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jaskiers-sweetkiss · 4 years ago

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Sunset Swerve - Part 5

Pairing: Luke x OC

Word Count: 4.9k

Warnings: swearing, partial nudity (the mooning scene in episode 4)

A/N: With this chapter we are all the way through with episode 4 and partially into episode 5! This is a longer one again but I really wanted to end this chapter where I did so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also, on an entirely unrelated note: Happy Ace/Aro Awareness Week! As always, please let me know what you think and send me a message if you’d like to be added to the taglist!

Part 4 Masterlist

___

“I got the music mm mm mm,” Julie hummed, dancing slightly to the music pumping through her headphones as she made her way to her locker.

Jordan grinned, following behind her. She’d been bored that morning and she and Luke had gotten in another meaningless spat so she had decided to find Julie at school. She probably should’ve made her presence known earlier but Julie had been in such a zone that she didn’t want to interrupt; she really did have the music.

She didn’t say anything until Flynn arrived.

“It’s nice to see you back to your weirdo self,” the black girl said sincerely and Julie laughed.

“Thanks?” Julie laughed and Flynn grinned.

“How’s the band? Still hot? Still talented?” Flynn asked before leaning in closer and whispering, “Still dead?”

“Good, yes, yes, and rude!” Jordan answered, gasping dramatically at the last one and Julie jumped in surprise, whirling around to face the dark-haired ghost who was leaning against the neighboring locker.

“What are you doing here?” She hissed and Flynn’s eyes widened.

“Wait are they here?!” Flynn gasped, sounding slightly embarrassed by her previous statement.

“Ohh, right, it looks like you’re talking to no one, sorry.” Jordan apologized, moving to stand between Julie and Flynn, forming a sort of half-circle around the open locker.

“It’s just Jordan,” Julie explained to her friend and she nodded.

“Hey Jordan!” She waved at the now empty space that the ghost had been in and Julie and Jordan laughed.

“She’s over here,” Julie explained, pointing to what appeared to be empty air between them. “Anyway, the band are amazing. Luke, Jordan, and I spent the whole weekend writing songs.”

“Hell yeah we did!” Jordan cheered.

“Do you wanna hear them?” Julie asked, laughing at her ghostly friend.

“Duh!” Flynn gasped excitedly and the girls exchanged grins.

Jordan followed them through the halls to the band room, trying to get used to the layout of the school. When they arrived the room was empty and Julie made a beeline for the piano bench, Flynn leaning on the opposite side. Jordan opted to sit on the piano, something she hadn’t been allowed to do when alive because of the fragility of the instrument, however, as a ghost she was made of air and therefore weighed nothing.

“Ooh, please play Great!” Jordan begged, settling herself in a cross-legged position as Julie lifted the piano cover.

Julie laughed but complied, “Okay, so here’s a bit of the chorus of the first song we wrote,” She told Flynn before beginning the piano part.

“Cause we’re standing on the edge of great,” she belted and Jordan jumped in with some back-up vocals.

“On the edge of great” Flynn jumped in surprise when Jordan materialized on the piano in front of her. Jordan grinned and sent a wink to the girl before continuing to belt alongside Julie.

“Great,”

“On the edge of great,”

“Great,”

“On the edge of great,”

“Cause we’re standing on the edge of great,” they harmonized the last line together.

“Wow! I like it!” Flynn complimented and Jordan beamed. “Definite Gaga vibes.”

“Thanks!” Julie smiled and Jordan frowned, confused.

She leaned back on the piano to whisper to Julie, “What’s ‘Gaga’?”

Julie laughed. “She’s a famous singer.”

“You don’t know who Gaga is?” Flynn gasped and Jordan shrugged.

“I died in ’95, dude.”

“We’ll educate you.” She stated and Julie laughed but nodded.

“I think we have an anthem with this next one, it was something my mom and I were working on.” Flynn gave her a sympathetic smile. “Luke and I finished it. Check it out.”

“And it’s one, two, three, four times that I tried for one more night, light a fire in my eyes,” Julie sang and Jordan came in on the harmonies in the last line, “I’m going out of my mind.”

“That’s… That’s beautiful,” Flynn said sincerely and Jordan nodded in agreement before vanishing once more as the performance was over. “And my girl’s got a crush and his name is Luke.”

Jordan just about did a spit take without any water at the revelation.

“What! No!” Julie protested, staring eyes-wide at Jordan as if trying to convince her. “Luke’s a ghost.”

“A cute ghost.” Jordan snapped her fingers and pointed at Flynn for the point.

“With a perfect smile,” Julie admitted and Jordan snorted.

“Ha! I knew it!” Flynn cheered. “Just remember he’s made of air.”

“Cute air,” Julie shrugged.

“Just… don’t get hurt,” Flynn warned and Jordan’s heart warmed at the girls’ friendship.

Julie nodded to reassure her before turning to Jordan, with a look of concern. “Is that okay?”

“What? That you have a crush on Luke?” Jordan repeated, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed in confusion. “Just because I hate him doesn’t mean everyone has too!”

“I’m serious Jordan,” Julie insisted and Jordan frowned, “There’s a thin line between love and hate.”

“And it is a line I am careful not to cross it.” Jordan was firm and Julie shrugged, dropping it.

She shook her head amusedly at the girl before turning back to Flynn and filling her in.

“Anyway, it’s obvious you guys have a connection,” Flynn spoke. “Everybody’s been wondering when you’re playing again.”

“Play again? We don’t even have anything planned. We’ve just been focused on writing songs!” Julie protested but Flynn grinned conspiratorially.

“Luckily, your new market team has your back,” she smirked and Jordan’s jaw dropped as she connected the dots.

“Flynn, you didn’t!” She gasped, however, Julie was still confused.

“We don’t have a marketing team.”

“You do now,” Flynn grinned, pulling a flyer out of her backpack and handing it across the piano to Julie.

Jordan scooted over the top of the piano to get a look at the flyer, having to lean over and read it upside down.

“Julie and her Hologram Band?” Julie read aloud and Jordan grinned.

“Cute,” she muttered.

“You’re playing the school dance tonight!”

“Our first real gig! Flynn you’re a goddess!” Jordan squealed, jumping up to go squeeze the girl, her excitement waning only slightly when her arms just went right through the living girl. “I gotta go tell the guys!”

___

“We have our first gig!” She shouted when she materialized in the garage.

“We have a gig?” Reggie gasped, jumping up from his chair excitedly.

“Yes!!” Jordan yelled and before she knew it they were both yelling, holding hands, and jumping up and down in the middle of the garage.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” Luke asked tiredly, interrupting them as he stepped through the garage door.

“We have a gig!” Reggie told him, the pair having stopped jumping to face the other ghost.

“We have a gig?” Luke’s jaw dropped.

“Yes!!” Jordan and Reggie answered in unison, the two ghosts nearly buzzing in excitement.

“We have a gig!” He shouted, finally getting on their level of excitement, and Reggie and Jordan echoed his words in their own shouts.

All of a sudden the three were bouncing around and screaming again, Jordan having jumped up onto the coffee table to scream the news to the sky.

“We need to practice!” She gasped, and the shouting stopped. Reggie pointed at her to affirm her statement and nodded.

“Let’s get to it. There are some Sunset Curve songs we can play,” Luke said, sliding on his guitar and immediately getting to business.

“I can pick up the missing rhythm guitar part,” Jordan offered, and Luke tossed her his music journal.

“First earmarked page,” he instructed and she nodded, flipping it open and looking it over.

___

“A school dance!” Luke repeated in shock before turning to Jordan, “You didn’t tell us it was a school dance.”

“Oh get off your high horse, Mr. We Play Bookclubs,” Jordan rolled her eyes and Julie nodded.

“Jordan’s right,” Julie agreed and the ghost in question smirked triumphantly. “This’ll be a good opportunity to build a following.”

“Yeah, we need to play whenever we can, wherever we can,” Reggie added.

“You guys are right,” Luke nodded. “Let’s rock those kids’ faces off, then play the clubs.”

“And then record a single that gets a billion streams,” Julie continued.

“I don’t know what that means but hopefully it gets us a manager and a tour.”

“And then we release a bunch of hit albums.”

“Put out a country album that does surprisingly well,” Reggie chimed in and the others turned to look at him funny. “What? I shred on the banjo.”

“Ooh! I play the fiddle!” Jordan gasped excitedly and Reggie grinned at her.

“And before you know it, we’re being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!” Luke brushed past, sending them a judgmental look.

“Ooh! But one of us isn’t there,” Reggie said, “Because we had a blowout in 2032! My money’s on Jordan, just cause… y’know.” He shrugged awkwardly.

“Nah, that’s valid,” Jordan brushed him off with a shrug of her own.

“So what’re we waiting for?” Luke asked, filling the silence that had fallen upon them after Reggie’s comment. “Let’s get to work!”

“Uh, where’s Alex?” Julie asked, pointing out the blond ghost’s absence.

“Oh, he’s with his ghost friend,” Reggie answered and Jordan wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Alright, well, I guess we can get started without him?” Julie said, unsure but the ghosts all grabbed their instruments.

The three ghosts gathered around Julie’s keyboard, Luke counting them off into the first song. Even without their drummer, it was a productive practice, Stand Tall and Great were really starting to shape up. They’d been running through the former when Alex walked through the door.

“Hey Alex!” Jordan greeted and Reggie waved.

“Where you been man?” Luke asked, skipping the greeting altogether. “We need to start practicing!”

“For what?”

As if she had heard Alex’s question, though they all knew that was impossible, Flynn walked in.

“Dance news!” She exclaimed, “I don’t have a date. But, I don’t care because I’m so psyched to see you perform!”

“Aw, we’re playing a school dance?” Alex whined.

“What do you guys have against school dances?” Jordan asked, equal parts exasperated and curious. “Is it cause you’re all dropouts or…?”

Luke glared at her before explaining to Alex, “Dances are how we get a following nowadays.”

“Yeah, c’mon Alex, get with the program,” Julie teased and Flynn lit up.

“The guys are here?” Flynn asked, eyes wide.

“And Jordan!” Reggie added, pouting on her behalf.

“It’s 2020, ‘guys’ is a non-gendered term now,” Jordan informed and Reggie nodded, his mouth going to an ‘O’ shape and Alex nodded affirmatively.

“Aw, Jordan, you’re one of the guys now,” Luke said sarcastically, insincerity dripping from his tone, and Jordan stuck her tongue out at him. “Anyway, now that Alex has graced us with his presence, can we start working?”

Apparently, they couldn’t start working. In addition to the previous distractions, Julie’s little brother walked in to make an attempt on their lives. The boy threw salt around the room, claiming it burnt the souls of ghosts. Luckily he was a hack or they might’ve lost Alex. With Flynn gone to distract Carlos in the house, Jordan thought they might actually get to rehearse for their first official gig.

“Alright, let’s get back to it,” Julie said and Jordan nodded, moving back to her spot in the setup but Luke stalled them again.

“Yeah but remind me later, we have some Sunset Curve songs we want to show you.”

“Ooh, show me now!” Julie insisted and Luke grinned at the attention and interest.

Oh, that crush is gonna go right to his head, Jordan thought to herself with a sigh.

“‘Home is Where My Horse Is,’” Luke read as he pulled a piece of music out of his song notebook, “Reggie, I told you to stop putting your country songs in my journal.”

“Hey, that was a gift!” Reggie protested.

“Yes, it was,” Jordan affirmed, snatching the song out of Luke’s hand and examining it herself, “Ooh, we are gonna work on this, buddy.”

Reggie brightened and Luke rolled his eyes, handing the journal to Julie with instructions to check out the dog eared pages.

“Who’s Emily?” She asked as she flipped through the pages.

The ghost band froze while Luke lunged for the notebook. “That one’s not dog-eared!”

“‘If you could only know, I’d never let you go,’” she read teasingly completely misreading the song and the situation, “I didn’t know you were such a romantic, Luke.”

“He’s not,” Alex piped up, and Jordan felt simultaneously more and less stiff. “That one’s about-“

“No one.” Luke cut him off harshly and the whole subject was dropped immediately but the thick tension still remained. “If you go to the next page, I got a tune with a killer beat.”

He stepped away from the keyboard and picked his guitar back up and started playing the main riff.

“So you wanna sample.” Julie shrugged.

“Sample?” Luke asked, and the group gathered around the keyboard again.

“Yeah, sample someone else’s music,” Julie explained. “My mom and I used to sing that song at the top of our lungs in the car, it’s a classic Trevor Wilson song.”

“Uh, no,” Luke said. “It’s a classic our song.”

“Nuh-uh, I don’t mix up songs,” Julie insisted, pulling up her laptop. “I used to be best friends with his daughter, I know his music. Here, look, his first album had a bunch of hits but his more recent stuff isn’t as good.”

Julie turned her computer around and the ghosts froze, all of them recognizing the photo covering half the screen.

“Isn’t that…” Jordan whispered and the guys nodded.

“That’s Bobby,” Luke confirmed and Julie huffed.

“I just told you his name is Trevor Wilson.”

“Yeah, that’s great, then he changed it, okay?” Alex said, bouncing on the balls of his feet lightly as his anxiety kicked up. “Cause that’s Bobby, he was our rhythm guitarist.”

“Trevor Wilson was in your band?” Julie said skeptically but she was ignored by the guys who were still obsessing over their old bandmate.

“He looks like a substitute teacher,” Alex spat and Jordan couldn’t help the laugh she let out.

The guys all turned to glare at her for making light of this situation and she apologized quickly, looking down at her shoes.

“What’re his hits?” Luke finally asked quietly and Julie began to list them off, each one a Sunset Curve song.

Luke made his way to the back of the garage, throwing darts aggressively at the dartboard hanging on the wall. Jordan looked between the boys nervously as they coped with this news.

“Wait, this is… this is freaking me out,” Julie spoke, having a crisis of her own. “Trevor’s songs are kinda big to me. He introduced me to rock.”

“Yeah, Luke introduced you to rock,” Jordan sighed.

“Back when Carrie and I were friends, the three of us used to talk about music all the time,” Julie spoke, readdressing the guys, “He never mentioned you guys.”

“And that’s unbelievable!” Luke protested and everyone nodded. “I mean, he takes all the credit and he doesn’t even mention us?”

“Well, he was always kind of a self-righteous asshole,” Jordan pointed out.

“He’s rich too,” Julie informed them sadly, pulling up another set of pictures on her laptop. “He even has a helicopter with his face on it.”

The ghosts all gravitated back to the computer perched on the keyboard to see the photo. It was really an outrageous use of money, Jordan thought, to put your face on a helicopter. It was disgusting, it didn’t even look good.

“Where does he live?” Luke asked, bouncing slightly due to the magnitude of his anger.

“Above the beach in Malibu,” Julie shared defeatedly and the three boys shared a look before vanishing.

“Can you look up any of my songs?” Jordan asked quietly, wondering what had happened to her own legacy.

The ghost rattled them off, none of them showing up in the search and she breathed out a sigh of relief, though she also was a little upset. She was grateful that none of her previous bandmates had betrayed her posthumously like Bobby had, but she could help but be sad that Apollo 81 didn’t go on to fame without her. Instead, it appeared that the band broke up completely after her death.

“Alright, well, at least there’s that,” she muttered softly before poofing out herself.

____

“Moss, why are you here?” Luke spat when she appeared and she rolled her eyes.

“I’ve grown soft in death,” she sighed dramatically, leaning against the glass banister. “You all seem to have forgotten that I didn’t just hate your band out of principle. That asshole,” she jerked her thumb towards the top of the stairs where ‘Trevor’ had just disappeared, “Was always a condescending dick to me. And besides, I thought bandmates had each other’s backs, right?”

Luke narrowed his eyes but Alex and Reggie mustered up genuine smiles for the girl.

“Right,” Luke needed, “Welcome aboard, Moss. Now let’s go haunt his stealing ass.”

Jordan and Reggie whooped as they followed Luke up the stairs.

“Wait!” Alex called and they all stopped to peer at him, “It’s just my first time haunting someone, I wanna make it special.”

They all gave him various looks of shock and disbelief, each clearly portraying how weird of a statement that was.

“Yeah, I hear it,” Alex sighed, answering their unspoken questions. “Okay…”

They found Bobby in probably one of the most rich-white-guy rooms Jordan had ever seen. He was meditating, just like he had told Carrie he would be but the practice and the room reeked of Hollywood’s insincere obsession with Eastern cultures. This was going to be way too much fun, Jordan thought before the ‘haunting” began. They caused all kinds of chaos: blowing out candles, starting the CD player and the shower, and topping it all off with Reggie writing “Hello Bobby” in the fog on the bathroom mirror and Alex trapping him in the room. They followed the grown man as he ran down the stairs and into his helicopter.

“Quick! Let’s moon him before he gets away!” Reggie suggested as the watched the chopper take off from the pool deck.

Jordan rolled her eyes while Luke grinned, both boys already reaching for their belt buckles.

“He can’t see us,” Alex protested and Luke laughed.

“Oh, it’s not for him bro,” he explained and Alex shrugged. “C’mon Moss, drop trou.”

“Oh, absolutely not.” She said, crossing her arms.

“What happened to bandmates having each other’s backs?” He dared, throwing her words back at her.

She narrowed her eyes but reached for the button of her pants, never one to back down from a challenge, especially not one from Luke Patterson. They all laughed as they wiggled their bare asses at the helicopter but the moment ended quickly as Julie stalked outside towards them.

“So, did you guys have fun in there?” Julie asked rhetorically, crossing her arms angrily as the ghosts pulled their pants back into place.

“Okay, you would’ve done the exact same thing if he stole all your songs,” Luke protested, matching her outrage.

“But you have new songs, with me, and with Jordan,” Julie argued. “The best way to get back at him is for this band to do great. And for this band to do great we need to play dances, then clubs,”

“And then tours, I know,” Luke finished apologetically.

“I’ll see you guys at the school,” Julie sighed, “We go on at nine. Please don’t be late, there’s gonna be a lot of people there.”

“We got it, alright? Don’t worry,” Alex reassured and Julie nodded, heading back inside the house.

“I don’t care what Julie says, I’m glad we scared Bobby,” Reggie spoke up after a moment. “In fact, I wish we had done more. Maybe written ‘thief’ across his forehead!”

“And Alex, how did you shut the door?” Luke asked, amazed. “Yesterday you could barely open the garage door!”

“Learned that from your new friend Willie, didn’t you?” Reggie theorized and he and Jordan shared a knowing look.

“Yeah, he taught me some things and we screamed in a museum,” Alex shared gleefully, though a little shy, and Jordan awed at how cute it was. “…Long story,” he covered, not wanting to explain it.

“You think he has any other tricks up his sleeve?” Luke asked.

“Only one way to find out,” he shrugged.

When they reappeared they were in a park by the beach, not far from where two skateboarders were being ticketed.

“Hey, what’s up man!” Willie called as he boarded over, “You brought friends.”

“Yeah, these are my bandmates, Luke, Reggie, and Jordan,” Alex introduced and Willie alternated between bumping fists and forearms with the other ghosts.

“Cool, I’m Wille,” The long-haired ghost introduced himself, “So, did you guys come to learn some tricks?”

With a small flick of his wrist Willie set off the sirens on the cop vehicles, and the skaters scattered as the officers panicked. Just as easy as he turned them on, Willie turned them back off and they watched as the cops huffed, realizing the skaters were long gone.

“Do it again! Do it again!” Reggie cheered, slapping Jordan’s arm excitedly.

“Actually, we were thinking something a little bigger,” Luke said, sliding slightly in front of Reggie. “An old bandmate stole our songs and we wanna confront him.”

“Ah. Is this old bandmate of yours a lifer?” Willie asked and the other ghosts gave him a confused look at the terminology.

“Oh! ‘Lifer’ is fancy ghost slang for the living,” Alex chimed in and realization dawned on his bandmates’ faces and Reggie let out a quiet ‘ohhh.’

“Then yeah, he’s a lifer,” Reggie said, adding extra emphasis to the new term.

Willie’s face fell at the information.

“I’m sorry guys, even I don’t have the ability to make ghosts visible.”

The guys’ faces fell and Luke shoved his hands in his pockets, turning away from the group.

Jordan sighed defeatedly, “So much for that.”

“There is a ghost who might be able to help,” Wille finally said, obviously uncomfortable with their sadness. “I’ll take you to him. Meet me where Alex and I met at eight o’clock.”

The guys all nodded and Jordan smiled thankfully. Though she didn’t have an uncontrollable need to get revenge on Bobby, she couldn’t handle the guys’ moping over it.

Willie poofed away not long after and the rest of the ghosts returned to the garage.

“We’ll only have an hour,” Jordan warned as they got ready for the night. “Remember, Julie said we go on at nine.”

She was currently sitting on the floor in front of the couch braiding her hair into a half-up style while the guys lounged around the garage, already changed into their outfits for the performance.

“It shouldn’t be a problem,” Luke said, leaning over to grab the eyeliner she had left on the coffee table. “If we even make it on time.”

She had managed to find some of her own belongings in the loft including some makeup, however, it had long since expired so Julie lent her some of her own. They figured it would be safe to share the products as it’s hard to get diseases from someone made of air and vice versa.

Jordan rolled her eyes at the comment, tying a small elastic around the second braid. “There. Finished and it’s only seven-thirty.”

“It only took you an hour,” Luke scoffed and Jordan rolled her eyes.

The hour had been spent picking out an outfit (she had opted to stick with her usual look of a cropped shirt, mom jeans, converse, and a flannel tied around her waist), borrowing makeup from Julie, applying said makeup, and then doing her hair. It was an hour reasonably spent, she thought, especially with the constant distractions from the ghost boys.

“I haven’t done makeup in twenty-five years,” Jordan shot back, “Excuse me if I’m a little rusty.”

She was. It had taken her several attempts to get the winged eyeliner down when she used to be able to get them reasonably symmetrical in one go while alive. She’d nearly thrown the pen across the room in her frustrations but remembered it was Julie’s so she couldn’t lose it.

“Whatever,” Luke said, sitting up from his position lounging across the couch and swinging his legs over to rest next to where Jordan was sitting. “So what’re we doing for the next half hour?”

Jordan made a show of picking up her book, waving it at the boy slightly to answer his question before opening it to pick up where she’d last left off. Luke groaned, reaching over to grab the book from her hands.

“Nuh-uh. Not cool, Patterson. Give it back.” Jordan scolded, reaching out for the book.

“Why can’t you do something more interesting,” While Luke was busy whining Jordan grabbed her book back from his hands.

“Reading is interesting, though I know you wouldn’t know since you can’t read.”

“I can read!”

“Oh, my bad,” She feigned an apology, “I’ve just never seen you do it.”

“I read music all the time!”

Jordan just blinked at him for a moment.

“Yes, obviously, Luke.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m aware that you can read. Now can you let me read, please?”

Luke grumbled something under his breath that Jordan couldn’t be bothered to try to decipher before falling silent. Jordan smirked slightly at her victory and began reading but after a few minutes, she felt the couch shift behind her and could suddenly feel the ghost boy breathing on her neck.

“Do you mind?” She asked, turning to glare at him but nearly smashing their heads together, not realizing how close he was.

“Nope,” he said cheekily, popping the ‘p’ sound and continuing to read over her shoulder, “Who’s Annabeth?”

“Oh for Christ’s sake,” Jordan muttered exasperatedly.

“She seems kind of stuck-up.”

“Patterson I swear if you don’t give me some space I will find a way to kill you again and it will be painful.”

“I’m just trying to read your book,” he pouted. “It seems interesting.”

“You can have it when I’m done,” she compromised. “You’re missing the whole beginning anyway.”

This seemed to be a good enough answer for the boy as he nodded before poofing to where Reggie and Alex were hanging out in the back of the garage. They stayed like that for the last half hour, no major spats between Luke and Jordan which was quite impressive given their track record, and Jordan was able to get through a couple chapters of her book. With the ability to get lost in her book, it felt like hardly any time had passed before they were all gathering around Alex to go meet Willie.

They didn’t stay on the Walk of Fame for long, Willie almost immediately teleporting them to the interior of one of the classiest looking buildings Jordan had ever seen. Multiple chandeliers hung from the ballroom ceiling and it seemed like nearly everything was lined with gold.

“I gotta go make sure everything’s cool, but I’ll be right back,” Willie said, heading down one of the hallways and leaving the four ghosts to look around.

“The Hollywood Ghost Club,” Jordan read a nearby plaque out loud.

“This place is creepy,” Reggie said, scrunching up his nose.

“Well, so are we,” Alex chimed in and they all leaned over the balcony railing, overlooking the ballroom.

It was packed with well-dressed people, all of them older than the teenage ghosts. Jordan looked down at her own outfit, fiddling with the sleeve of her green flannel.

“I think we’re a little overdressed,” Luke smirked, nudging Jordan with his elbow and she rolled her eyes but she felt comforted by his words.

Just then Willie reappeared, leading them down the grand staircase and into the ballroom with a dramatic flourish of his hand.

“Just so you know, we only have until nine. We’ve got a gig with Julie,” Alex explained and Willie nodded.

“No worries,” he reassured.

Willie was just explaining how the people in attendance were all lifers who had paid a lot for a glimpse at the afterlife when a sharply dressed man approached, offering to walk them to their table. They had front row seats for the stage and Jordan could tell they were all excited to see whatever performance would be occurring. Jordan also noticed the large clock hanging over the stage that read 8:30.

“Hey guys, I’m gonna head to the school to help Julie set up,” Jordan said, patting the back of the chair that was meant for her as the rest of the group sat down.

“You haven’t even seen the show,” Willie protested and Jordan smiled apologetically.

“What about confronting Bobby?” Luke asked, face hardened at the thought of the traitorous former bandmate.

“You guys can teach me everything you learn, right?” She said, smiling reassuringly at the boys. “Besides, I don’t want Julie sitting alone before our first gig, she’s probably super nervous.”

The boys nodded thoughtfully at that.

“Right. Don’t forget, we go on at nine.” Jordan said before poofing out.

She reappeared at the school. Julie was sitting backstage with a piece of equipment Jordan didn’t recognize.

“Jordan! You’re here!” Julie exclaimed and the ghost girl grinned. “Where are the guys?”

“I wanted to get here a little early, figured you could use the company,” she answered, trying to reassure the clearly nervous girl.

“They’ll be here though, they’re just wrapping something up with Alex’s ghost friend.”

Part 6

___

Taglist: @oopsiedoopsie23 @meangirlsx @angryknightstatesmantrash @onlygetaway @deni-gonzalez @advicefromnixxxx

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residentlesbrarian · 3 years ago

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The Fourth Book I Read In the Dark: Of Expectations and Other Relatabilities

Of Gryphons and Other Monsters by Shannon McGee

Hey, guys, sooooo...this is aaaawwwkward. I wrote 95% of this review when I wrote the other Books I Read in the Dark series for the blog, but the ADHD hit me and COVID was still you know...a thing! So I am gonna post this review, finished of course, OH, but also pay extra close attention to the conclusion alright! Hmm...this is a bit like a time capsule...here are my concentrated thoughts from 6 months ago while I was slightly delirious on books and darkness. So go forth and uh yeah this one is...you can just feel the feral “I haven’t had access to proper internet so I’ve been curled in the corner like Gollum with my books” energy coming off it so...enjoy?

Okay, so yeah, I really didn’t have a reason to end my last review that way I just wanted to, so sue me for injecting a little excitement into a series of posts about me literally sitting in my house reading nonstop for 2 ½ days, my reviews my rules. Back to manufacturing my own excitement shall we!

It’s Day 2! I’ve just finished my last library book, whatever will I do! I could always reread The Neverending Story for the 1,273rd time, but I have a need. A need for GAY! I rack my brain, there has to be a solution. My town is without power, my local library won’t be open, but then it hits me. It’s so simple! It’s meant to be really! Like the universe knew this was coming and it made sure I was prepared! Like a prepper stockpiling mental SPAM for my stimulus needing ADHD riddled brain! I have an entire shelf of books that I haven’t read yet! Way back in Clexacon 2019 my best friend (Lookin at you @justalifelongphase) gave me way too much money from missed birthdays and Christmases all at once before the con started because the world has deemed it impossible for us to live geographically close to one another. Anyway, I went a little book-buying-crazy and have not had the time or opportunity to read any of them since then. Their time has finally come!

I figured after going full whimsy with The Lost Coast and sci-fi superhero with Dreadnought and Sovereign why not take a dip into more traditional fantasy, also this one was first in line on the shelf, yay for not having to actually make a decision! No more dawdling, let's get right into the review!

Unicorn Rating:

Blurb: Taryn always loves and hates gryphon season. She finds the lesser gryphons more cute than anything but the ever present fear that a greater gryphon might be just out of sight is terrifying, and this gryphon season proves to be the one that will change her and her families lives forever! Just let a girl herd her sheep in peace!

Disclaimer: I will try my best to not spoil anything from the book, but my book loving rambles may give more away than a traditional review. Here we go! Ramble time!

Review:

I genuinely enjoyed this book. It took me a bit longer to get through it than the others, but I think that was a combination of three things: A. I was starting to feel the fatigue of reading so much in such a short amount of time. B. Our local Wal Mart had power restored on Day 3 and our entire household went on a trip to buy non-perishable food stuffs and I was like a solitary confinement prisoner being let out into the yard for the first time in months when my phone picked up a wifi signal and it was a bit hard to get back into the swing of reading after talking to other humans, even virtually, that weren’t imaginary or in my head. C. Our power was finally restored on the afternoon of Day 3 so yet again I was inundated with the draw of technology and all of my friend-os I hadn’t talked to, but the book had drawn me in enough I did the most unmillienial thing and left my phone in a different room to charge while I finished this book before going back to the land of technology and interwebs. That should tell you something.

McGee was able to write this story in a way that pulls you in so you care about what happens to these characters and this little mountain town. You learn just enough about the world to understand where they fit within the overall weave of it, but you aren’t given a Tolkein-esc dissertation on the world lore. I felt the worries and the fears. I was concerned when the routines had to change. I mean she made me care about the freaking sheep! Sheep, people! One of the reasons I think this works so well is we are so firmly rooted in the head of our protagonist, Taryn. Imma use that lovely bridge I just built to skip right on over the plot section of the review to get to the characters first, don’t worry we’ll circle back round to the plot. I always do, but I just wanna talk about my newest set of brain babies.

Taryn is a character that, if the title of this post is anything to go by, I found very very relatable. Now I know relatability can be pretty subjective, some people can latch onto something with the all consuming, “It me!” While others just stare on dead eyed not understanding the appeal. I feel like Taryn could be that kind of protagonist. You are either going to really relate to her or you won’t understand where she is coming from at all. I obviously fall in the former category. I was the quintessential middle child, still am really, though my relationship with my parents has shifted now that I’m an adult. More mutual respect and friendship than parent to child. I always did my best to pick up the slack, if ever there was any, and just tried my best to be as little of a burden as possible to my parents. I see so much of that aspect of myself in Taryn and how she sees her place at the farm and even in the town, she has her place and her role, but those expectations are heavy. One of those expectations being that she will inevitably get married and help take over the farm from her parents and have kids to continue the line. The fact she finds the lesser gryphons that flock near the farm far cuter than any of the local boys that she will eventually have to choose from to fulfill that inevitable expectation is just...sad at best and down right tragic at worst. And her family doesn’t help matters either. They won’t let her forget that she will have to settle down with one of these local boys, a boy who would make a good husband and take good care of her and the farm. She knows that, logically, but she also wants to be in love, like her parents, and she just doesn’t feel like that for any of the boys in town. She doesn’t know how to make those two things line up. It’s a struggle between her head, the obligation of what she has to do, and her heart, what she really wants for her future, to be happy in doing what she has to do. Wow, I went off a little bit there, but this was my long winded way of saying I have never read a protagonist that really captured the utter confusion of being raised in a heteronormative environment without it being drenched in internalized homophobia and fear. Protagonists like this seem to always know something is off but just don’t have the words for it so they just hide it because they know it’s “different” and out of the norm, but Taryn is just livin’ her sheep herding life and ain’t got no time for these boy crazy fools. She knows her mom wants her to find a good boy to court her so she can marry someday but she’s still young. She’ll think about that tomorrow, and she just repeats that ad infinitum. The thought that maybe she doesn’t fancy any of the boys because well...girls...never even occurred to her. It's not how things are done in this small mountain town, not because of homophobia reasons, but just stubborn tradition reasons. We are even told there is a gay couple living in town who are staples in the overall dynamics in town, instrumental even, but the idea of having a lineage, being able to pass your land down is so ingrained no wonder poor Taryn was so in the dark about her own probable gayness till it slapped her in the face. As someone who was raised in a medium sized Oklahoma town...girl I feel you. I was 22 and in the middle of Appalacia, way up in the mountains for college when my gay awakening popped up and said “Hello!” Everything that never quite made sense in my life came into perfect clarity. Not quite what happened with Taryn, but the arrival of Aella surely helped, as pretty girls are want to do. Oh look a segue, good, cause I could talk about Taryn for literal hours and I’ve already gabbed about her too much for this review.

Aella, you smooth motherfucker. Like I wish I could possess a quarter of the smoothness that you do. Like I’m lucky to string sentences together around a pretty girl, but here you are just strutting about being the smoothest of smooth. Honestly, I just...I can’t with you Aella. On a serious note though Aella is a character that served as showing Taryn a glimpse at the world beyond her small mountain town, as much as she had no desire to leave, unlike her brother. Nope, sit down, we’ll get to you, Michael! Oh, we’ll get to you. She’s traveled and has stories from all over and she is fairly open about the fact that she only likes girls, but she doesn’t have land, responsibilities, and a family line to continue. She just gets to live her life the way she choses. And y’all know I am a sap for the hard dark characters that are totally softies underneath that rough exterior. I think Aella was a great foil to Taryn and great at showing her what she could have if she was willing to leave, to stretch what she was allowed to wish for, but of course the biggest issue with her wishing for anything was...Michael.

Michael was such an interesting character. I loved him. I hated him. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to punch him. Again as with the town and the people of the town I was so deep seated in Taryn’s head and feelings that her conflicted feelings about Michael and how he was acting became my feelings on the matter. Not enough to not separate a tad and see what was coming or at least try to predict it as I always do when reading, but emotionally I was right with Taryn the whole way. The one thing that really pushed Michael from just a character I was conflicted about to one I really wanna give a swift kick in the nads to, is that he knew. He knew all about Taryn’s absolute lack of romantic inclinations toward any of the boys in town and her doubts that she would ever find someone to love and marry to take over the farm. He was the only person she confided these fears in and he still selfishly followed his own pursuits with little regard to her or her worries. You sir, are a terrible brother and overall a shit human, so sit your ass down and shut your mouth.

The plot for this book was so embroiled with the characters and their journeys that I can’t talk on it much but the twists at the end and the final climax was very satisfying for me and left me excited to dig into the next book. Also something of note that I didn’t talk about in the character section cause I felt it was dragging on a touch, I really only talked in depth on our three biggest players but there is a very colorful cast of side characters ranging from Taryn’s nervous pony to the boy-who-cried-gryphon neighbor no one can stand to the troupe of hunters led by Aella’s mother to Taryn’s best friend Nia, all of whom play important parts in building that sense of caring about the people of this town and the town itself, which in turn made me deeply care about the outcome of the plot at the heart of the story. And the sheep! The god damn sheep!

One thing I do want to say before my final thoughts is that whoever designed the cover of this book in a genius because as I dug into the story I found myself constantly closing it to spout off about theories of what I thought was happening on the cover and what it all meant, I was kind of reader fatigue delirious for most of those theories but some of them I was right! I might have reenacted the Captain Holt “Vindication” gif IRL just because it felt too good not to. I just love when a “cool” cover turns out to be so much more than that once you’re “in the know”. So yeah, now y’all know to pay attention for that.

My final thoughts on this book are pretty positive. I can tell the author is building us toward so much more, hence the name of the series, Taryn’s Journey, and it feels like it. This is only the beginning and I honestly can’t wait to take the next steps with her.

Queer Wrap-up:

Hey it’s me from the future...present...whatever...so, this is when I stopped writing the review six months ago and there is a reason for that. I, kind of, agonized over what to rate this book on the scale. Multiple times having to call my brother and go back and forth just to then repeat the same arguments with myself as soon as I got off the phone. Now why was this such a hard terrible no good awful back and forth well...SPOILER WARNING...seriously anything past this point will be spoiling some character beats for the majority of the book...okay? We understand one another. DANGER ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE...or you know scroll on.

So, Taryn is never confirmed to be queer in the text of this book. Now you would have to be wearing the tightest hetero goggles in known history not to see the heavy HEAVY subtext saying THIS BITCH GAY! It’s basically a full grown elephant painted sparkly rainbow trying to hide behind a dead shrub aka not hiding at all. I so desperately wanted to give this book four of those darling unicorns but in this rare case I just don’t think I can justify it. We have a protagonist that is still figuring herself out, which is amazing that we get to see that and go on the journey with her. Some of the things Taryn does and thinks are queer coded as hell, especially if it involves Aella who is explicitly gay on the page, but Taryn herself never express whether she herself is queer. Which, fair, other really important and traumatizing things were going on and I love that about her as a character, she didn’t meet Aella and suddenly that was all she could think about. Aella, of course, is representation who I’m counting because even though she shows obvious interest (you smooth motherfucker) in Taryn she is so much more than just a love interest and her character isn’t just boiled down to her sexuality. Now in this wrap up I’m also including the doctor and his husband in the town. They are very minor characters but they give us interesting insights into the town and the people. They are accepted and treated well in town even if some do almost, pity isn’t the right word, but they seem sad that they won’t be able to have any kind of legacy or lineage. As I said in the review it’s not homophobia it’s being stuck in your ways and it’s an interesting take.

Links:

Shannon McGee Website

The Storygraph

Okay so this one is a bit of a mess. Pieces of it were written 6 months apart and most of it was written while I was kind of delirious but hey at least I can say it’s honest. I still stand by everything my past self wrote and I still really enjoy thinking and talking about this book and am excited for whenever I get around to reading the sequel to continue on Tayrn’s journey with her. This is a book I probably would never have known even existed without ClexaCon and trolling through artist alley for literally every table that had books on them. I guess, moral of the day is maybe you won’t just find great books on library shelves but on unassuming convention tables too and it never hurts to look. Trust me, I’m a lesbrarian.

Oh bet you thought this post was over. I did the sign off and everything but oh no no! I have some info and such to impart. I am WELL AWARE these reviews have been fairly inconsistent to down right sporadic. Well, this is just a little info dump letting you guys know I am gonna be putting up one more review after this one that I wrote ages ago and I mean AGES (think years, as in multiple) and just never got around to posting and then the old blog is probably gonna be going through a PLANNED dormancy while some pretty big stuff is coming down the pike. You may notice visual changes and other stuff before anything else is announced but just keep an eye out. To quote the Fates from Hercules, “It’s gonna be big!”

Okay now for the actual sign off, I got shit to do! No one look behind the curtain, it’s a surprise!

#Of Gryphons and Other Monsters #Shannon McGee #resident lesbrarian #3 unicorns #questioning girl #lesbian #heavy wlw romantic subtext #ya novel #ya fantasy #go to your local library #but wear a mask #and wash your hands #and stay 6 feet apart #be safe out there guys gals and nonbinary pals

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piccolosniccolo · 4 years ago

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Decepticon Wind Ensemble AU Expansion

Part 2 of 2. Characterizations of the Decepticons if they were in a High School Wind Symphony.

C o l l e g e. It’s great! But so time consuming lol. I had planned to get this done in August, but I had forgotten what school is like. So anyway, here’s part two!

Trumpet

Blitzwing: In marching band, he’s the section leader who will make you do fifty pushups for every minute you show up late. In wind ensemble, he’s the quiet guy who silently judges his section for not practicing. In jazz band, he’s bat shit insane.

Ratbat: The most arrogant member of the program. He has the confidence to back his skills, but he does not understand that dynamics other than ‘blastissimo’ exist.

Dragstrip: Started the tradition where the trumpets in the program will attempt to sacrifice a clarinet before a contest. Barricade is the primary target.

Wildrider: Hosted an after-performance party at the local McDonalds. He is now banned from the local McDonalds.

Motormaster: He once tripped on a Tuba in the stadium when he was trying to cut in line. This created a domino effect in the trumpet and trombone sections. It is said that Megatron switched from double shot to triple shot energy drinks on that day.

Brawl: Will miss his step-offs 95% of the time.

Bonecrusher: He can only play one scale. He can read music and he has the practice sheets, yet he can only play one scale. His auditions take twenty minutes.

French Horn

Octane: Will fight you if he catches you saying that Mellophones and French Horns are the same thing. No one will save you.

Flywheels: The only pieces of music he likes to play are chorals. Sure, he says he practices other tunes, but you that he’s lying.

Ramjet: He only listens to music by The Beatles. Their CDs are on 24/7. He can play the French Horn solo in “For No One.” He always asks Megatron if they can play their music in the stands.

Waspinator: The only reason why he chose to play French Horn was because he thought it looked cool.

Mixmaster: Does Tik Tok dances during marching rehearsal. The scary part is that he’s gotten others to join him.

Trombone

Scourge: Cried tears of happiness when DCI decided to accept trombones into the sport. This is all he practices for now.

Scorponok: His purpose in life: to add a trombone mouthpiece onto whatever instrument he can get ahold of. He then attempts to play this new instrument during rehearsal. Chaos ensues.

Rumble: Organized the trombone section to go to Sonic during rehearsal to get milkshakes. When Megatron noticed, it was too late. They were already running into the sunset.

Frenzy: His goal is to reenact every vine with a trombone. He cannot be stopped.

Reflector: He accidently threw his slide from the stands into the football field and knocked a football player out. The entire stadium was silent for ten seconds. He is no longer allowed to attend football games.

Bass Trombone

Overlord: Feels as if it is his responsibility to say the lewdest comments during rehearsal. He does this to get Megatron’s attention, but Megatron is particularly good at ignoring him. The other remembers of low brass? Not so much…

Euphoniums

Nickel: The only one keeping the euphoniums from descending into further chaos.

Clobber: Plays Animal Crossing during rehearsal. It’s a blessing from Primus that there has not been a collision on the marching field… yet.

Vortex: Always has the tendency to be flat. He never fixes this before rehearsal even though he’s been told to do so 20 million times.

Blast Off: Always has the tendency to be sharp. He never fixes this before rehearsal even though he’s been told to do so 20 million times.

Tubas

Crankcase: All of his friends are in band so he can’t leave.

Strika: The captain of loading crew. She makes sure the percussion equipment is loaded into the truck properly, and she makes sure the freshman put their stuff in the right place. She is not responsible for anyone getting run over.

Breakdown: He once had a marimba fall on him. That was not a good day.

Longhaul: After every rehearsal, he’ll play the first few measures of the Veggie Tales theme song. He’ll do this for five minutes.

Onslaught: Responsible for getting “Vehicle” taken out of the stand tune rotation. He’s on thin ice with “Hey Baby.” The band has agreed to fight him if that happens.

Piano

Kaon: He has perfect pitch. He’s an auditory learning god. If you think you’re good, listening to him play makes you lose your faith in pursuing music as a career.

Harp

Nova Storm: You’ll find her in orchestra more often than you’ll find her in band. The only reason she’s there is because she’s working on applications for music conservatory and needs the practice.

String Bass

Shadow Striker: Like Nova Storm, you’ll find her in orchestra more often than you’ll find her in band. However, she’s an honorary member of percussion, so you can find her in the back room with them.

Drum Kit

Tesarus: The only person in the program who yells more than Starscream. This is because he has lost hearing due to his tendency to forget to wear earplugs. He also has his own band. They have rehearsal in his garage.

Percussion

Sixshot: The king of multitasking. He can play the marimba with six mallets, and he is the tenor drum in drumline. He’s currently learning how to play piano and string bass

Quake: Always has first dibs on playing the snare drum. He will sabotage any attempt to take it from him.

Helex: Always takes the Timpani. He just wants the big solo moments.

Ion Storm: Vapes in the percussion back room. Accidently caused the fire alarm to go off during rehearsal. No one followed fire drill procedures.

Dirt Boss: The first to enter the percussion back room and the last to leave. What crimes does he commit? Sorry, but you’re not allowed to know that.

Crumplezone: Wrote “Elongated Muskrat” on the white board. Then he surrounded it with the cowboy hat emoji. Is it a death threat? A cry for help? A sign of the rapture? No one knows.

Jhiaxus: You never know what he’ll be doing next. From chimes to the gong to the cymbals to the Bongo drum, you’ll never expect what choices he’ll make.

Ransack: Purposefully reenacted the “Star Spangled Banner Cymbal Fail.” He is no longer allowed to play the cymbals.

Choir

Cyclonus: You might see him in the band hall. You might see him hanging out with band kids. You may even see him at football games and concerts. Don’t be mistaken, though. He is not in band.

#transformers #Wind Ensemble AU #blitzwing #overlord tf #cyclonus #sixshot #shadow striker #tesarus #helex #kaon #scorponok #transformers cyberverse #transformers cybertron #more than meets the eye

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kk095 · 5 years ago

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Crash Landing

This story is a little different, but I hope everyone enjoys it! There may be some typos, so I may have to correct them at some point. Anyway, I hope you guys like it!

*****

Matt and Suzie were a happy couple who tied the knot 2 years ago, and have been together for 5 years. Matt was a 30 year old white man with longish brown hair that was neat and well maintained. He stood at 5’10 with a slim build, had blue eyes that were behind a pair of glasses since he didn’t like contact lenses, but it gave him a nerdy look, which Suzie was into. Matt had a decent paying job, but it was the stereotypical bland, corporate type job that was totally unfulfilling. But outside of his monotonous work life, Matt was a pilot and even had his own small plane that he recently fixed up.

Suzie was a 28 year old white woman with wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and olive skinned since she was of Italian descent on her mom’s side of the family. Suzie stood at 5’7 with a slender build, had bright white teeth that always made her smile stand out, didn’t have any tattoos but had piercings in her ears and belly button, and looked a bit young for her age. Suzie worked as a CNA in a nursing home in the next town over and hoped to go back to school to be an RN someday. Suzie was a conventionally attractive woman who many thought was out of Matt's league, but she was surprisingly down to earth and a generally pleasant person to be around.

The couple’s 2nd wedding anniversary came up, and Matt decided to take Suzie out for a ride on the plane, and then go out to a nice dinner afterwards. Suzie always thought Matt’s passion for flying to be interesting, and genuinely enjoyed going on plane rides with him. It’s a great opportunity to have quality 1 on 1 time and see the world from a different angle. Suzie has even tried to convince Matt to apply to be a commercial airline pilot, but Matt was never interested. He always felt that he’d lose his passion for flying if he did it for a living.

It was around 3:45pm when they took off that day. It was a cool, overcast day with a slight breeze, but no rain or fog, which is detrimental to flying- especially in a small plane like Matt’s. It took about 15 to 20 minutes to reach the air traffic controller’s suggested cruising altitude. There were beautiful, unobstructed views from that height, and the only noise was from the small plane’s propellers and the occasional check in from air traffic control. Out the left window, you could see miles and miles of ocean and out the right and front windows, you could see the beach and the town below.

The couple had a nice time together, but things began to change just as Matt headed back towards the airport. “This is tower 1. Check your altimeter reading. Our radar is saying you’re well above your aircraft’s ceiling.” A male voice said over the radio. Matt looked at the altimeter- which was many of the confusing looking meters in the cockpit. This particular device measures the aircraft’s altitude and the angle it’s traveling at, and has to be reset before every takeoff to ensure it’s working properly; it’s arguably one of the most important instruments that a pilot needs. Matt takes a look at the device and says “everything looks good on my end.” There’s a slight pause before the air traffic controller says “could be a radar miscue, but keep us posted the rest of the way.” Matt agrees and continues flying back towards the airport.

About 5 minutes later, the nose of the plane began pointing down slightly. Matt pulls back on the wheel, trying to point the plane back up but instead, the exact opposite starts to happen. The plane continues heading downwards, dropping several hundred feet in a short period. “is everything ok babe? Just a little drop?” Suzie asks, sensing something isn’t quite right. “I dunno. It’s like the plane doesn’t have any lift, but that shouldn’t happen at this altitude.” Matt says, trying to figure out which correction procedure to start. Matt struggled over the ensuing minutes to stabilize the aircraft’s angle, and a nosedive began. “fuck… we’re stalling!” Matt shouts urgently, realizing the problem too late. Suzie buckles up her seatbelt and white knuckles her armrests. She begins breathing heavily as she watches her husband struggle to fix the problem. “Matt…are we gonna be ok?” she asks, scared. Matt says something inaudible under his breath as he continues to frantically ameliorate their nose dive.

When their altitude decreased a bit and lift wasn’t re-established, the aircraft began to spin while continuing its plummet to the earth. Suzie closed her eyes tightly, squeezing the arm rests with all her might. “please don’t crash. Please don’t crash…” she thought to herself. While the aircraft was spinning, Matt’s glasses flew off his head and were tossed elsewhere in the aircraft. Matt began navigating the aircraft towards a vacant lot off in the distance for an emergency landing. “ok hun, this is gonna be a rough landing, but I need you to keep your eyes shut and be strong for me.” Matt says, nervous himself. Suzie nods and tells Matt she loves him, but begins to feel queasy from the aircraft’s erratic spinning.

Matt began to make preparation for a crash landing. This is something he’s trained for, but never in a million years expected to have to perform. During the aircraft’s descent, Matt was able to point the nose of the aircraft up so the bottom side of the plane would make contact with the ground. While Matt achieved the correct angle for an emergency landing and opened landing gear, he had trouble reducing speed.

What felt like seconds later, the bottom of the plane made contact with the ground in the vacant lot mentioned earlier. The plane bounced violently several times while still going forward. Suzie screamed as she was bounced around a little. The plane bounced several times, eventually ending up in a rocky area of the lot. The already violent landing because even more turbulent. Matt was shaken around quite extensively, hitting his head and neck multiple times against his seat and other surfaces. A rock flew up through the front window after being kicked up by the propeller. The rock was hurled right at Matt’s forehead and a tremendous speed, killing him instantly.

Finally, the aircraft came to an abrupt stop about a quarter mile or so after touching down. Suzie awoke minutes later after being knocked out herself. Her eyes opened slowly, and was a but groggy at first, but quickly regained her mental faculties. Her brown eyes scanned the scene out her window. She could see smoldering pieces of metal and fragments of the plane scattered across the dirt and rock covered area. “matt?” she asks before looking over at him. His face was battered and bloody from glass, the rock, and also had bruises from being thrown around. He was hard to recognize at that point, which visibly upset Suzie. “matt? MATT?!” she said, shaking him, to which she received no response. “MATT!” she screamed, realizing he wasn’t breathing- or alive for that matter. “oh my god… oh no… this isn’t happening…” she said to herself out loud, beginning to cry.

Sirens could already be heard off in the distance, with multiple reports of a plane crash being called into 911. Suzie began sobbing, holding her newly deceased husband’s hand, waiting for emergency personnel to arrive. Suzie felt a pain in her lower abdomen from the seatbelt locking up and pressing her abdomen. She also had a slight headache and felt a little nauseous, but had enough adrenaline and endorphins pumping through her to make her injuries feel tolerable.

The police department were first to arrive on scene. A female officer scurries over to the plane. “we have 2 victims- 1 male 1 female. Male is deceased and female is awake and alert.” She’s heard saying into her radio. “HE’S NOT DEAD. HE CAN’T BE! YOU GOTTA HELP HIM!” Suzie cries to the female officer. The cop tries to change the subject and talk about her injuries. “can you tell me where it hurts miss? The ambulance is almost here.” The cop says. “Matt’s dead…” Suzie cries out, not answering the officer’s question.

The fire department and ambulance arrives to the crash site about 2 minutes later. The fire department hooks up their hose to a fire extinguisher nearby and put out the small handful of fires nearby. 2 medics head over towards the plane and manage to open up the side door. “hi ma’am, we’re with Bristol County EMS. Can you tell me your name?” a female medic asks softly. “um…suzie. Suzie Carter. My husband’s Matt. Is he ok?!”suzie replied. The Male medic went to the opposite side and checked on matt. He felt for a carotid pulse, checked for respirations, and checked his pupils with a pen light. Matt was pulseless, not breathing, and had fixed and dilated pupils. The male medic discreetly shook his head at the female one, indicating Matt was a goner. “Matt? Is he ok? Is he dead?!” suzie cried out, panicked. “he’s in rough shape, but we have to focus on you for now, ok?” the male medic said, trying to reason with Suzie. The female medic placed a c-collar on Suzie and snipped the seatbelt with scissors. The medic then cut off Susie’s top, only sparing her black bra. “that’s a nasty looking bruise on your belly. Does it hurt?” the female medic asked. “um… kinda" suzie replied. The medic began palpating Suzie’s abdomen. “AHH!” Suzie yelped, wincing in pain. “abdomen’s stiff and rigid with point tenderness.” The female medic relays to the other. “what does that mean?” suzie asks. “it means you hurt your belly and we need to get you checked out at the hospital, alright?” the male medic said calmly.

Suzie is removed from the destroyed aircraft and placed onto a backboard and stretcher. The medics set up a portable heart monitor, which read unstable vitals: BP 90/55, heart rate 131 BPM, and a pulse ox of 95%. 2 large bore IVs were set up, and fluid resuscitation began. A dose of pain meds and a dose of valium were pushed do calm Suzie down in the ambulance.

In the ambulance, further examination began. Suzie's right forearm was broken, and she had a bump on her head. The female medic shined a pen light into Suzie's eyes to see if there was a head injury, but her pupils were equal and reactive. Suzie’s jeans were snipped off and her shoes were taken off, leaving her barefoot and half naked on the backboard with her bra and matching underwear only being spared. “ok Suzie, can you wiggle your toes for me?” the medic asked. “uh huh.” Suzie responded. Suzie's slender toes which were painted with black nail polish, remained perfectly still. “ok Suzie, let’s do it again.” The medic said. Once again, her toes remained still. “ok, good job.” The medic said, realizing a spinal cord injury was within the realm of possibilities. The medic then placed and o2 mask onto Suzie's face and just monitored her vitals the rest of the way.

Upon arrival to the ER, Suzie was lifted onto the trauma room table under the big overhead light while the medics rattled off information to the trauma team. “Hi Suzie, can you tell me if you passed out during the accident?” a veteran nurse asked softly. “I don’t remember.” Suzie said. “I’ll take that as a yes.” The nurse replied. Trauma labs were drawn and blood transfusions began while the attending called out orders. Chest x-rays and a FAST scan were performed. The x-ray showed a complex fracture of the right ulna, requiring surgical intervention to repair, a vertebra fracture at the L3 level, and a partially collapsed right lung. The FAST scan came back clean for the chest and pelvis, but there was a serious non-specific bleeding in the abdomen. “page ortho and surgery. I want a head, chest, abdomen CT. And let’s do a right chest tube while we’re at it.” The attending barked to his subordinates.

Suzie screamed and yelped in pain during the chest tube insertion since she was wide awake, but her o2 stats went up markedly once the tube’s placement was confirmed. A blanket was placed over her torso and she was wheeled over to radiology for a CT scan. The scan showed a small brain bleed that was thought to dissipate on its own. The spinal cord injury was confirmed, and it didn’t seem very promising since there was damage to the spine itself. In all likelihood, Suzie would be paralyzed from the waist down. The abdominal bleeding source wasn’t able to be located on the CT scan, so it was decided that she would be taken to the operating room for an exploratory laparotomy.

After being whisked upstairs into the OR, Suzie was quickly prepped for surgery. She was sedated and intubated with a 7.5 ET tube, with the tube being secured with a blue tube holder. Her belly was sterilized with betadine, staining it a brownish orange color. A midline incision was made in the attractive brunette's belly. The skin separated with ease from the sharp scalpel blade. The underlying fat, connective tissue, and muscle was cut through to expose the abdomen. A rush of blood came out of the incision upon entrance to the abdominal cavity, but before retractors could be placed. Suction was applied to the area, but it didn’t help. The retractors were placed and the opening was created. The area had to be suctioned, but it became apparent that there was extensive bleeding. The liver, spleen, IVC, and aorta were all intact, so the originally suspected culprits were ruled out. The surgical team then began the tedious task of searching through the bowel loops and mesenchymal area for injuries.

During the tedious search, Suzie's blood pressure began dropping. More blood products were hung and vasopressors were pushed, but that was simply a band aid meant to buy some time. After 2 more minutes of unsuccessful probing and prodding, Suzie’s vitals began to plummet rapidly. Meds were pushed, but she became pulseless. The abdominal surgery was paused temporarily and chest compressions were started. Suzie’s chest caved in repeatedly as it was pounded away by one of the nurses. Her perky, B cup breasts bounced and jiggled in sync with each of the compressions. On the heart monitors, PEA was displayed. Epi and atropine were injected intravenously in an attempt to obtain a shockable rhythm.

After a few cycles of unsuccessful chest compressions, the lead surgeon decided to look for the bleed once again. Suction had to he applied once more, but the doctor found a bleed in one of the mesenteric veins. A vascular clamp was placed in the meantime until the vessel could be ligated. Blood still accumulated in the abdomen, so it appeared another vessel was severed in the vicinity. While going through more bowel loops, there was significant bruising and swelling in the jejunum. Another bleed was located in a deeper mesenteric vein, and that vessel was subsequently clamped off. No additional blood accumulated in the abdomen, so it appeared all bleeding sources have been located. In the meantime, the code ensued. A 2nd round of drugs were pushed and more blood products were hung from the rapid infuser.

Finally, the monitors showed v-fib. The defibrillator paddles were gelled and charged to 200j. The defibs were then pressed up against Suzie's bare chest as everyone stepped away from the table in anticipation of the shock. Suzie’s body jolted abruptly in response to the shock, but she remained in v-fib. Chest compressions were resumed while the paddles were being readied. A moment later, a 300j shock was delivered. Suzie’s lifeless body reacted more noticeably from the stronger shock. Her back arched slightly and thrust her chest upwards, jiggling her b cup breasts. Suzie wasn’t shocked out of v-fib, so life saving efforts resumed. A nurse took over chest compressions, pumping away at the 28 year old's chest while the defibs were being recharged to 360j. The next shock was delivered about 30 seconds later, causing Suzie’s feet to leap up above the table and slam back down a second later, showing off the thick, prominent handful of wrinkles in her size 8.5 soles. Luckily, this shock converted the attractive brunette to sinus bradycardia, and surgery could continue.

The rest of the surgery was touch and go, but the OR team managed to maintain a pulse. The 2 severed mesenteric veins were successfully ligated and proper blood drainage was restored to the intestines, but post operative monitoring for blood clots was important. Next, orthopedics began their end of the surgery. Suzie’s fractured ulna was surgically reduced with a small rod and pins that were inserted directly into the bone. Lumbar fusion surgery of the L3-L4 space was performed to reduce motion in the area and prevent additional damage to the spinal cord itself.

After the surgery, Suzie was transferred to the ICU for careful monitoring. She remained sedated and intubated, but switched over to a ventilator. A catheter and central line were placed, and antibiotics were added to her cocktail of medicines since her abdomen was open for almost 5 hours. Suzie's parents and older sister arrived at the hospital about an hour and a half earlier, and were waiting in a private waiting room together.

“How is she?!” Suzie’s mom asked the trauma surgeon, teary eyed as soon as he entered the room. “she’s in the ICU and in pretty rough shape. She sustained some major internal bleeding during surgery and her heart stopped beating for 6 minutes- we were lucky to get her back. She also sustained a spinal cord injury, and it’s very possible she’ll be paralyzed from the waist down. She has a moderate head injury we're monitoring, and she also suffered a badly broken arm in the crash. I’m very sorry ma’am” the trauma surgeon said. “paralyzed?!” her mom asked, beginning to cry again. The doctor paused, then sighed before continuing. “yes ma’am. The spinal cord injury she sustained is quite serious, so it’s very possible she’ll be paralyzed. Best case scenario, she’ll have major issues with mobility.” The family paused, taking all of the bad news in. “I wanna see her.” The mom demanded. “I can take you up to see her, but I warn you- she’s sedated and hooked up to a breathing ventilator. She’s gonna look pretty beat up, so please keep that in mind, ok?” The surgeon said.

The surgeon escorts the 3 family members up to the ICU. “oh god…my poor baby…” the mom cries out, almost falling to her knees after seeing Suzie hooked up to a ventilator and connected to other equipment. Suzie was covered in abrasions, her chest was bruised from CPR, there was a large bandage on her belly covering up the closed incision, the bump on her head appeared to have gotten a little bigger, her complexion was a ghastly pale, and she was cool to the touch. Suzie’s BP and heart rate were stabilizing, but her chest tube had to be fixed a bit after surgery since it was knocked loose from the resuscitation efforts.

She remained relatively stable for the next handful of hours, but there were some changes that occurred around 3am. Her blood pressure dropped again, and her medication dosage was upped. But at 3:30, Suzie began having a seizure. Her body twitched and thrashed involuntarily on the bed as her family watched in horror. “help! SOMEONE HELP!” Suzie’s sister shouted, attracting a nurse’s attention. A few nurses and the doctor entered the room. Lorazepam was pushed intravenously to control the seizure, but it was discovered that her right pupil was blown and the left pupil was constricted. 2 minutes later, the seizure was controlled and Suzie was taken back down to radiology for a repeat head CT.

The scan showed that her brain was swelling, and that raised a major red flag with the doctors. Since her head injury had a delayed reaction that required additional care, she was taken back up to the OR to have an intracranial pressure monitor placed.

A portion of her head was shaved and the small, hairless patch was sterilized with betadine. Once the area was cleaned, an electric drill was used to create a small opening in the skull. After the opening was made, a small pressure sensitive monitor was calibrated and fed into the hole, and constant intracranial pressure monitoring began. Initially, Suzie’s ICP reading was 12mm/Hg, which is abnormal, but still below the threshold for further intervention. Anything above 0 is abnormal, but 15-20 is considered dangerous, and anything above 20 is typically fatal since the brain herniates at that point. Suzie was taken back to the ICU after the procedure was completed.

Over the next few hours, Suzie’s ICP readings increased 16 mm/Hg. At that point, the ICU team decided to put Suzie into a medically induced coma in an attempt to prevent further brain swelling and give her body a chance to recover.

Throughout the day, Suzie only showed signs of getting worse despite the doctor’s best interventions. Her ICP monitor was displaying 17 mm/Hg, but her pupils were fixed and dilated. After a neurology consult and an eeg, it was determined that Suzie was brain dead. The attending physician delivered the bad news to Suzie’s family, and they decided to remove her from the ventilator. Suzie was surrounded by her family and was pronounced dead at 8:21am.

After the ICU team gave her family a chance to grieve and say goodbye, they went into the room and began removing equipment from her battered, lifeless body. The EKG electrodes were disconnected, the IVs were removed, all monitors were shut off, and her body was covered up, only leaving her feet exposed. A toe tag was filled out and placed. The tag dangled in front of Suzie’s wrinkly soles as she was taken to the hospital morgue.

Suzie’s cause of death was determined to be brain herniation from the head injury she sustained. The brain injury was moderate at first, but had a delayed onset and grew progressively worse. The cause of the plane crash was investigated over the following weeks, and the cause was determined to be calibrating the altimeter wrong, and ended up at a higher altitude than the plane was made to fly in, so the plane stalled. Overall, this was a preventable accident that led to the deaths of 2 young people.

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yridenergyridenergy · 5 years ago

Text

Dir en grey - Otaru Goldstone 2019/09/29 [Day 2] live report

1. Downfall

2. Devote My Life

3. Merciless Cult

4. Ningen wo kaburu

5. Keibetsu to Hajimari

6. Aka

7. Zetsuentai

8. Celebrate Empty Howls

9. Keigaku no yoku

10. Rubbish Heap

11. Values of Madness

12. Ranunculus

13. The World of Mercy

Encore

1. Hydra 666

2. Kigan

3. Followers

4. NEW AGE CULTURE

5. Utafumi

Man Dir en grey hit us like a brick thrown to the face in this second night. The songs were all heavy and intense until maybe Aka, Kyo had jumped on his crate and was headbanging already at the first song. Hell, he was wearing a full business suit again, all black with plastic-y labels in the back of the neck of both shirts, and he clearly sweated a lot. He struggled to unbutton his vest with his left hand.

After the first three songs, there was finally a break to switch the guitars. Kyo went to the back near Shinya, but then left the stage. The tech on the side was speaking either with him or with Die, but Kyo returned and lit up a cigarette, the only one he had all night.

Eventually it got real hot and Kyo loosened his black tie, then roughly unclipped it and let it fall somewhere to his left, which a roadie hurried to go retrieve before anything happened to it.

It seemed to help the whole band to start with very rapid songs, like it got some frustration out of the way. Aka was less dramatic, even though Kyo did carefully fit his mic cord around his neck after forming a loop with it, and even got two layers of it around his neck the second time, attentively adjusting on the right and on the left, and he seemed so content, like in heaven, jubilating at the end of the song with that string around his neck. Now there's no question left in my mind about what the intent is with "Spring, let me go/leave me".

There was something very particular about Keibetsu to Hajimari but I forgot what hahah. I think perhaps heavy headbanging from Kyo? There was literally a time at the end of one song where he was headbanging at least at twice the tempo as the actual song's rhythm hah. But in one of those first few songs, Kyo really moved like a jerky pantomime a lot and the crazy face was omnipresent.

In one song, I also cannot remember which, he totally started one of the strophs too early and basically could not even catch himself and delay the end of those two verses.

For Rubbish Heap, Kyo was on his crate this time atbthe beginning and he again signaled to form a fist and raise it, but holy hell the crowd was >95% just open hands!

I feel like Keigaku no yoku was really the special song of the night. Kyo started it with moves of imploring something from above, pulling it toward him. He then seemed to have forgotten to start singing, but he surprised us by singing almost entirely new lyrics. I cannot remember exact moves anymore throughout the song as I was trying and failing to pick up the different lyrics, but overall in this concert he made a lot of the mad, mad facial expressions like around dead tree in the mode of Withering to death. DVD. I think that there was one scream after the more intense segments of Keigaku no yoku that he really prolonged.

I confirm that he adds "Hayaku shine" (quick, die) at the end of that last (modified) sentence in Keigaku no yoku. One less mystery, yeah!

Kyo was really on point in general vocally tonight, even though there were still auditive discrepancies, the guitars ringing so damn loudly, notably. And yet, this time around we actually saw the roadies check the instruments on stage before the show. All for nothing.

As much as Keigaku no yoku stole a spotlight, Kyo very clearly brought The World of Mercy to life again today. He transitioned from Ranunculus to it repeating over and over 'Mochiron, watashi wa modoshi(?)'. Basically, "Of course. I'm back." I believe he was holding his head with his right arm too while saying that. He then proceeded to claw or bite at his left sleeve around the time he sang about the very very beautiful flower, and through his sleeve, bit his wrist for real three times over a couple of minutes. Then, in one of the 'pauses' for him in that song, he mimed that something dropped from his wrist onto his other palm, then he wiped the 'substance' with one of his fingers and brought it to his mouth to lick, apparently finding it very exhilarating. Where have I- oh fuck, one of my favourite movies, Annihilation, has the scars from self-harm becoming the source of growth from flowers and plants from inside the person's body. I wonder... But the move with the lyrics and the completion of the visual story really hinted at the blood from cutting his wrist being like a splendid flower, a type of onctuous honey even.

I noticed that while he moves his left arm in a circle during the 'yuugi' series, he also gyrates his hips~ I cannot remember which song, but he was singing about his real self so it might have been The World of Mercy, and apparently his self involved being rather sexy due to his moves and brushing his hair back and all.

In The World of Mercy, I think that it was the first 'kusaro'/rot that he prolonged extensively and intensely.

Oh and he scratched at his throat but mostly his chest during one of the last songs of the main setlist.

Back for the encore, Kyo came out late wearing a mask for Hydra 666. I had never seen it myself, but it reminds me of the colours and lines of the mask he had in the latest BURRN magazine, except that it is not composed of cutouts of mouths and eyes. Personally, I could actually not figure out how he could see or speak through it, because there did not seem to be holes. Near the end of the song, he slid his mask upward and blinked but waited a while with a sort of expression like he was waiting for our approval, our cheers. But we had cheered the moment he stepped back on stage anyway hahah. He then threw the mask not too carefully toward Shinya's drums while remaining on his crate. I get the impression that he at least became aware that the stage was low and/or that most fans could not see him unless he was standing.on the crate, so he was there most of the time.

During Kigan I guess, Kyo very much caressed the side of his crotch.

The way he prepares himself for that 'Sore ga watashi, kono watashi' part in Followers is so moving, clutching at his chest so dearly.

New Age Culture is intense, so heavy. There was one song near the end, perhaps that, where all but Kyo and Kaoru were focused around Shinya.

Kyo stayed slightly longer than yesterday at the end, encouraging us to clap and doing so himself too. Leaving with the traditional 'Bye bye' and half-beaming face.

Other than that, Kaoru was wearing a sort of loose bowtie, a white dress shirt and a black vest, as well as sarouel pants or a long skirt?

I was on Die's side today to avoid the shimote conflicts and people seemed slightly shorter there. That man really gives the impression that he is just there to look handsome, stare seriously (sexily?), lift his eyebrow occasionally, receive wind in his hair eternally and make his job seem super easy. There are just some moments in Ranunculus, I think, in which he headbangs and is the only person intensely moving along with Kyo on stage at that time. He seemed content enough throughout the show. At the end, he threw a water bottle and a pick too high and they caught onto the lights above the stage and he looked apologetic when he realised that had happened. He went back to fetch more picks to throw than usual. But it's a consensus that he became skinnier than he already was. Man, with Kyo cutting the insides of his mouth recently, Toshiya being off and stopping his interactions with the crowd until yesterday, and Die losing weight that he did not have in extra --- are they doing OK?

#Dir en grey #live report #This Way to Self-Destruction #live #tour 2019 This Way to Self-Destruction #tour 19 This Way to Self-Destruction #Die #Kaoru #Toshiya #Shinya #Kyo #The World of Mercy #The Insulated World #京 #Otaru

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shewantedtobeasecretgirl · 6 years ago

Note

3 7 9 21 27 30 for Beth, Eddie, Judy and Stone 😊

3. Ask them to describe their love interest.

Beth: Ed is the antithesis of male stereotypes and that’s what makes him able to notice nuances to which 95% of guys would be oblivious. I love that he can read between the lines and I don’t have to explain everything to him even if that also means I can’t hide anything from him either. He’s talented, sensitive and last, but not least, gorgeous.

Ed: Beth is... my everything...

Judy: Love interest? I don’t have any at the moment... I mean, there’s a guy who’s trying to become that of mine... or that’s what out friends claim. Hehe, luckily, the question didn’t include wannabe love interests.

Stone: Amber is talented, confident, dominant and she knows exactly what she wants, which makes her attractive all the more. She’s beautiful, sexy and spontaneous, you never know what she’s about to do.

7. Describe them in three words. Now let them describe themself in three words.

Beth according to me: passionate, unpredictable, committed.

Beth according to herself: stubborn, devoted, harsh.

Ed according to me: insoluble, intuitive, observer.

Ed according to himself: just a guy...

Judy according to me: disciplined, reserved, caustic.

Judy according to herself: coward, invisible, overthinker.

Stone according to me: hilarious, insufferable, adorable.

Stone according to himself: cool sarcasm king.

9. Do they empathize with non-sentient things (dolls, plants, books…)?

Beth supports charity actions as often as she can so she’s always very angry when people throw useful/usable things in the garbage. She usually tries to save them and give them to people in need, she’s convinced that certain objects have a determined fate.

Ed thinks vinyls and surfboards had more influence on his personality than actual people, that’s why he treats them as valuable treasures. He and his old typewriter are also inseparable.

Judy is convinced that musical instruments have soul and she has physical pains when she sees one breaking or getting hurt in any way. She’s always had indoor plants and is fascinated by their siblings living in nature. By stones as well...

Stone has a ficus in his home but it’s a mystery how it can survive since he always forgets to water it. He’s a bookworm but he always loses his current readings just like any personal belongings. He doesn’t feel attached to any object because he isn’t sentimental, anyway.

21. What would it take for them to break up with someone? What would be the last straw?

Beth thinks that the lack of respect and equality is a poison that can kill relationships

slowly but the sudden realization can catalyze breakup. She broke up with one of her exes because he humiliated her publicly during a heated debate.

Ed agrees with Beth on the importance of respect and tolerance but since he’s very loyal, he could never forgive cheating.

Judy has absolutely no idea since she’s never broken up with anyone. She named infidelity as a theoretical reason for breakup.

Stone thinks every relationship is different so the reasons of breakups are inevitably different too. He thinks if you don’t feel comfortable in a relationship anymore and you don’t even feel the urge to fix things, you have to move on.

27. Forgiveness or vengeance (or…)?

Beth knows that the desire for revenge poisons the soul but when pain is still fresh, she wants satisfaction and freaks out if she doesn’t get it immediately. She's got it a few times but only after having released distress.

When someone disappoints or hurts him, the first thing that Ed feels is anger. However, he tends to analyze situations and tries to understand the motivation of the other party too, which helped him forgive in certain cases what happened.

Judy’s reaction depends on the situation. Certain people deserve immediate revenge while others aren’t even worth shrugging. Of course revenge means crafting plans that will never be carried out.

Stone is pretty straightforward, he immediately slaps back when getting hurt or insulted and then tries to move on as fast possible. Obviously, he doesn’t feel bad about a little satisfaction but he doesn’t chase it either.

30. What would they do if they knew it would be forgiven?

Beth would punch every single physically or emotionally abusive person she knows. Unfortunately that’d mean a lot of fights...

Ed would piss onto the desk of George H. W. Bush.

Judy would say out loud for one day what she thinks.

Stone would blast Ice Cube on the tour bus.

Thank you! 😊

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youreawizardharr · 5 years ago

Text

About Me

Unusual Asks by Luxet

1. Spotify, SoundCloud, or Pandora?

I never tried spotify before, but I have installed Pandora. I didnt like the app, so I uninstalled it. I listen to soundcloud mostly.

2. Is your room messy or clean?

When I had a room, I kept it clean.

3. What color are your eyes?

It depends. Like, whenever I wore eyeliner and mascara, my eyes took on a green color. Naturally, my eyes are a shade of blue with hints of some kind of color I cant describe.

4. Do you like your name? why?

I love my first and middle names. If you truly want to my name, its Christa. I absolutely despise my surname. I get teased for it...

5. What is your relationship status?

Uh...single.

6. Describe your personality in 3 words or less?

If you play Otome games, think of Yukimura (IkeSen) or Kyle Ash (IkeRev). I share some similarities with the two of them lmao 😗

7. What color hair do you have?

Brown? Or maybe more of a nutmeg?

8. What kind of car do you drive? color?

I'm old enough to drive, but I cant right now.

9. Where do you shop?

Anywhere, honestly.

10. How would you describe your style?

The only clothes I hate wearing is dresses, skirts, and overalls. I refuse to wear them.

11. Favorite social media account?

It used to be Facebook. However, I had personal issues with some people, so now I'm more active on Tumblr. I also have a Deviantart account but I never post there.

12. What size bed do you have?

It used to be a twin size...

13. Any siblings?

Due to my past, I dont speak with my brother. I dont even talk to my biological father. As far as I'm concerned, he's just my sperm donor. I always saw my step father as my dad, so my half sister is my sister 😊

14. If you can live anywhere in the world where would it be? why?

I always imagined what it would be like being born and raised in another country.

Somewhere in Europe? Not sure.

15. Favorite snapchat filter?

I dont use Snapchat nor Instagram...

16. Favorite makeup brand(s)

I rarely ever wear makeup.

17. How many times a week do you shower?

I'm poor, but I do take showers.

18. Favorite tv show?

I have too many to list lmao

19. Shoe size?

I believe its 6 or 7? I'm not sure...

20. How tall are you?

I'm 5'3" (I'm shorter than a shortcake).

21. Sandals or sneakers?

Sneakers, hands down.

22. Do you go to the gym?

I'm too lazy to go...

23. Describe your dream date

I never been on a date before, so I'm unsure.

24. How much money do you have in your wallet at the moment?

I'm broke as a door nail.

25. What color socks are you wearing?

Blue, black and white ankle socks.

26. How many pillows do you sleep with?

I usually sleep with two.

27. Do you have a job? what do you do?

I have things to do before getting one.

28. How many friends do you have?

I only have internet friends. Sad, I know.

29. Whats the worst thing you have ever done?

I...did some bad things.

30. Whats your favorite candle scent?

It depends.

31. 3 favorite boy names?

I always wanted to name my kid Cameron, for some weird reason. Its a common name.

32. Favorite girl names

I uh...I'm not really sure?

33. Favorite actor?

Johnny Deep, Adam Sandler, and Jim Carey.

34. Favorite actress?

Uh I'm not sure.

35. Who is your celebrity crush?

When High School Muscial was a thing, I had a crush on Zack Efron. I was a young teenager back then, so don't judge me, okay?

36. Favorite movie?

Pirates of the Caribbean, 10,000 B.C, and most historical related movies. I'm a nerd 👌

37. Do you read a lot? whats your favorite book?

My favorite books are Knight in Shining Armor, Black Dagger Brotherhood, etc.

There is a Viking series I loved. I know one was called Lord of Hawkfell Island, another was called Lord of Raven's Peak, but I cant remember the others.

38. Money or brains?

Money cant buy everything...

39. Do you have a nickname? what is it?

Ketchup & Kikka

40. How many times have you been to the hospital?

I always went with my mom. I never got seen or anything. She has asthma, COPD, so yeah.

41. Top 10 favorite songs

If today was your last day - Nickelback

Savin Me - Nickelback

If everyone cared - Nickelback

Hero - Nickelback

Holding onto Heaven - Nickelback

When I'm Gone - Three Doors Down

Never too late -Threr Doors Down

And countless other songs 😂

42. Do you take any medications daily?

Over the counter medications

43. What is your skin type? (oily, dry, etc)

I have sensitive skin. I cant use certain brands of soap, and I have to be careful when outside, because I get sunburned easily.

44. What is your biggest fear?

Dealing with people...

45. How many kids do you want?

At least one. Or maybe two.

46. Whats your go to hair style?

I dont have a style...

47. What type of house do you live in? (big, small, etc)

Its a secret.

48. Who is your role model?

I admire my mom.

49. What was the last compliment you received?

I dont take compliments well...

50. What was the last text you sent?

Uh I texted my sister last night.

51. How old were you when you found out santa wasn’t real?

Uh...I knew at a young age.

52. What is your dream car?

I dont have a dream car.

53. Opinion on smoking?

Its your body, your choice. But I prefer if people dont. My mom suffers from COPD and Asthma. She always contracts Pneumonia. The three of them clashes against eachother, and makes her really ill.

54. Do you go to college?

I wanted to go, but cant afford it.

55. What is your dream job?

One that doesnt require interacting with people...

56. Would you rather live in rural areas or the suburbs?

I live in the country side. Well, kinda.

57. Do you take shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels?

I used to, but they're cheap...

58. Do you have freckles?

I do have moles on various places. I do have freckles on my shoulders, but nowhere else.

59. Do you smile for pictures?

I dont do selfies or anything else...

60. How many pictures do you have on your phone?

I have two screenshots of Kyle Ash lmao

61. Have you ever peed in the woods?

Yeah, when I went camping as a kid.

62. Do you still watch cartoons?

I'm too old for cartoons...

63. Do you prefer chicken nuggets from Wendy’s or McDonalds?

I like my mom's chicken nuggets.

64. Favorite dipping sauce?

Hot sauce, Salsa, sometimes ketchup.

65. What do you wear to bed?

Uh baggy clothes?

66. Have you ever won a spelling bee?

I hate presentations...

67. What are your hobbies?

Writing

68. Do you draw?

I used to draw, but I suck at it

69. Do you play an instrument?

I suck at playing instruments.

70. What was the last concert you saw?

Never been to one.

71. Tea or coffee?

I drink both, but more so tea.

72. Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?

Dunkin Donuts

73. Do you want to get married?

Someday, maybe.

74. What is your crush’s first and last initial?

I never dated anyone before...

75. Are you going to change your last name when you get married?

Definitely, because I despise my last name.

76. What color looks best on you?

I'm not one to be fashionable lmao

77. Do you miss anyone right now?

I miss my aunt. She died years ago...

78. Do you sleep with your door open or closed?

I always slept with my door closed...

79. Do you believe in ghosts?

I did experience paranormal stuff years ago.

80. What is your biggest pet peeve?

Being ignored, being called a liar, etc, etc...

81. Last person you called?

My sister.

82. Favorite ice cream flavor?

Uh gelato, hands down.

83. Regular oreos or golden oreos?

Both of them.

84. Chocolate or rainbow sprinkles?

Chocolate.

85. What shirt are you wearing?

Just a plain, ole t-shirt.

86. What is your phone background?

Just something random.

87. Are you outgoing or shy?

Awkward af ._.

88. Do you like it when people play with your hair?

Uh I enjoy personal space.

89. Do you like your neighbors?

I dont know them, so I cant say?

90. Do you wash your face? at night? in the morning?

Both.

91. Have you ever been high?

Um, no.

92. Have you ever been drunk?

Yeah, several times.

93. Last thing you ate?

Baby lima beans.

94. Favorite lyrics right now?

"No one can be me anyway."

95. Summer or winter?

Winter. I hate hot weather.

96. Day or night?

I'm a night owl, so I enjoy nighttime.

97. Dark, milk, or white chocolate?

I love me some chocolate.

98. Favorite month?

July, my birthday month

99. What is your zodiac sign

Cancer

100. Who was the last person you cried in front of?

My mom.

#personal #about me post #ask me #disclaimer

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rubymixes-blog · 6 years ago

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2019-03-13

Fuck. I did not pass. About an hour ago I received an email reading “Dear Ruby, I’m sorry to tell you that you have not passed your exam in differentiating psychology.” Fuck. Just when I believed that my horrors of being kept in a university building were over, I get thrown right back again. Well, as it turns out, I will have to partake in two final courses instead of one towards my final semester at the University of Regensburg. This is not bad at all, to be plain honest, still it never takes away the waves of “I am a fuck-up that is going to be homeless” in my mind. Especially when the mail drops, I already get half a panic attack just by looking at the sender’s address. But my system also begins to panic when I am exposed to all the exhibitions of a news feed on social media, re-enforcing my notion of feeling like a failure especially since everyone on those platforms seems to be so colorfully engaged in their fruitful, happy lives. I have nothing against people giving insights into their private lives but watching the super-edits on a screen filled with stats and comments, drives the living hell out me. I get overwhelmed. I get anxious. I get suicidal. Luckily, it’s only in my head. Still, chopping it off does not seem a viable solution to my never-ending imposter syndrome. Facts check: last Thursday I handed in my thesis on the negotiation of transgender identities. With a couple of punk rock songs by Gainesville-based band “Against Me!” I looked into constellations of power and language while exploring the rather recent coming-of-age of transgender identities. That day, I walked out of the office that would cheerfully accept the print-out of my very final paper in American Studies, and I went to a higher ground at the university campus. High as a kite within the ten minutes of sunshine that this day was offering, thoughts kept creeping up saying “What the fuck is my next thing to do?” I realized that I want to get onto my own feet. Make a little more money than I used to in order to do the things I love to do most. Make music, go places, get tattooed. To eat, to laugh, to kiss, to fuck. You name it. We’re not that different after all.

My whole life, I have been drawn to music. The PC game “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2” got me interested in music, punk rock and heavy music in particular. It brought me closer to bands like Papa Roach, Bad Religion, Millencolin, Swingin’ Utters, Rage Against the Machine. (Fun fact: Infest by Papa Roach was my very first rock recording that I still listen to this day.) Way before then, I got acquainted to a musical instrument known as the keyboard. While there is a high-8 video recording of me at the age of 6 months pounding a Phantom of the Opera-esque plateau into a Yamaha PortaSound PS-200, it wasn’t until 1997 that I had developed a serious interest for music. My father, by then, had upgraded to a Yamaha PSR-510 with 60 keys and a built-in sequencer. When I was not in the playground playing with and beating up other kids, I would obsess about everything this device had to offer. After a while, I developed perfect pitch, a great sense for melody and the skill to learn and play an instrument by just barely looking at it.

Here come waves of fear: Fear to expose myself. Fear to expose my music. Fear of bad criticism because I fucked up. Fears all related to my own expectations. I hate this kind of perfectionism. It numbs me and my senses because whatever I get into I give 120 percent to make it the best I fuckin’ can. That’s why I enjoy offers like: “Hey, we’re playing a show in 4 days. Here is a list of 90 songs to learn.” And of course, when we hit the stage for the very first time, the ball is rolling, the crowd is having fun, the evening is a success. And the idea never leaves me that “I am just a fake. I am a loser. Who the fuck are you, anyway?” I don’t have nightmares often but, on a daily basis, this is one ugly bitch of a nightmare. I wake up to it every single day to keep me from slacking around, being sharp, ambitious. Still, I believe I need to work on and re-assess my personal expectations related to my work. I do not enjoy the fact that I am a nervous wreck while I try to give my very best every single day.

Goals are important and the number one thing to have set out clearly when trying to deal with the sets of problems we encounter in our professional lives. I played with the thought of mapping out a sample day in a day of my life and testing this “schedule” for a while in order to find out if I would work more effectively. While my nutrition and workout plan is pretty tight, I need to improve on my perfectionism and my crazy screaming mind, in order to pull my dreams off. Cringing from this kind of self-assessment, I know that the pain I feel is necessary to grow and discover new frontiers, both personal and professional.

A few days ago, somebody I know said “I would give a lot for a day in your crazy life.” I thanked him for the kind words and responded that in the end we’re not that different from each other. Have some food, some shelter, a place to wash and -ideally- somebody to make sweet love to. Suddenly everything outside becomes superficial. Non-existent if you will. Enabling you to burn 95 percent of all your possessions because they do not mean as much as you initially thought. This is the life I want to live. Be minimalist. Low maintenance. Easy to travel with. Collect more tattoos. Make a living by carrying a laptop in a backpack. Collect things and experiences that mean something to just me and the people I choose to connect and engage with. I wonder where the journey will lead to. If I can -in the long term- keep away from wanting to put a bullet into my head, I know I have everything it takes to make my visions come true. Back to work.

#introspection

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mental-health-advice · 7 years ago

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Submission about working

I’m 27 and I suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I can’t hold down a normal job or live on my own and I feel like a burden on others often. I’ve been working hard to try and support myself independently. I work from home as a ghost writer (mostly romance novels) and I do alright with it. I work every day from nine in the morning till six at night and I only take one day off a week. I’m proud of how much effort I put into my work. I can write 30,000 words a week when I’m doing well. I still have bad days when the anxiety and depression make working difficult or impossible, but for the most part I genuinely think I’m working as hard as someone with a ‘real’ job. Unfortunately, the people I live with tend not to agree. I’ve lived with multiple people who just think I’m playing on my computer all day. They’ll talk about how I don’t have a job, or interrupt me repeatedly while I’m working, complain that I don’t do all the housework since I’m home all day anyway. It’s nerve-wracking for me because I’ve been thrown out before and I’m constantly afraid they’re going to decide I’m too much of a burden and tell me to leave. How can I make people understand and respect that even though I’m working from home I am working, and working hard?

Hi lovely,

Thank you for getting in touch with us here at MHA. Firstly I just want to say that i’m really sorry you struggle with GAD, but I am so proud of how well you are doing right now, you are achieving so much and that is incredible - I really hope you can be proud of yourself too <3

What you have described above is something I like to term ‘jobism’ (idk if that’s a real thing but it is in my head!) I faced this a lot when I was at sixth form applying for university - I was at a private sixth form where 95% of the students where applying to Oxford or Cambridge, or going to do medicine, dentistry, or law. I am currently at university studying forensic science, just at a little quaint uni in the UK. I used to face a lot of criticism from students, and teachers alike, about how that was a waste of time and how i was never going to get a real job out of it. And I cannot explain how angry it makes me.

If your job is something that you love and is supporting you financially, then there is nothing wrong with doing that job! Something I try to point out to people is that if people stopped doing these jobs that they deem ‘irrelevant’ or ‘lazy’, then some part of our culture or society would fall apart. If wonderful, creative, clever people like yourself stopped writing literature, we would lose a massive part of our culture - people would have no books to read on holiday, no magazines to read on the way to work, no stories to read to their children at bed time, etc... I think it can be quite easy to forget what an impact someone’s job is having on the world when it isn’t something super crazy like being a politician or joining the army etc. But every job has it’s worth, and every person has their worth and the right to do any job they want that makes them happy.

I also think it is worth pointing out to the people you are living with that there are different types of work; white collar, blue collar, and pink collar working, for example. Some people have very physically taxing jobs, such as manual workers on construction sites or waitresses in busy restaurants. Other people have emotionally draining jobs in customer service for example on helplines or in a call centre. And other people have mentally draining jobs, like yourself! Although not physical and you are able to work from home, writing is an extremely mentally draining process, especially when you are working such long hours.

One of my favourite quotes is: ‘’If we define human worth and value by the amount of money a person earns, then we are truly lost for one has nothing to do with the other.’’

What i’m trying to say, if you excuse my little rant about ‘jobism’ here, is that you are doing an incredible job, lovely! I admire how hard you are working and everything you are overcoming, and I really hope you are proud of what you are achieving. Something it may be worth considering, is spending some time with your housemates and maybe showing them what you have to do everyday for work - maybe explain to them the hours you work and the processes you have to go through and plan to write? Just please know that you have nothing to be ashamed of and you are doing a great job!!

In terms of managing your anxiety there a few things you can do. Some simple self help tips would be: avoid caffeine, make sure you’re getting enough sleep, do some easy exercise such as Pilates, keep a mood journal. Here is our page of self help methods for some more inspiration. To help you with calming down when you feel anxious, breathing techniques and mindfulness are really effective. I also really recommend progressive muscle relaxation - this is where you slowly start to tense each muscle in your body individually, and then feel that tension flow away. Start with tensing the muscles in one foot for 10 seconds, then move onto the other, and then make your way up your body until you feel more relaxed. We have some more suggestions here. Furthermore, distractions and grounding techniques can be really good to stop you overthinking a situation and to keep your focus on reality. I find something that keeps my hands busy can be really useful, such as playing an instrument or knitting, something like that.

I hope this has been of some use to you, lovely. We here at MHA are really proud of you, and hope you continue to feel proud of yourself too. Please remember you can always get back in touch with us if there is anything else that you want to talk about. I hope you are okay!

Take care, Rhiann xo

#anonymous #mha #advice #advcie blog #mental health advice #mental health blog #mharhiann #careers #GAD #generalised anxiety disorder #anxiety #self help for anxiety #calming anxiety and panic #looking into the future #choosing a career #you have value #putting yourself first #do what makes you happy

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awesomelephuoclocblog-blog · 4 years ago

Text

MyTrafficJacker 2.0 Review – From A Real User With Special Bonuses

https://lephuocloc.com/mytrafficjacker-review/

MyTrafficJacker 2.0 Review – Introduction

Have you anytime found out about MTJ 1.0? At the time being released it was by then a totally taken breath away instrument to help customers with getting enormous measures of traffic by getting slipped by now in spite of everything live and fantastically significant associations from Wikipedia and Youtube inside under 10$. It is more than unbelievable to guarantee those associations since you can redirect it wherever and get backlinks from Wikipedia and Youtube! Dazzling gadget to support your locales' situating, by then, by extension, get certified arrangements. Regardless, MTJ now even offers you more than that! By and by it is revived to shape 2.0. Already being anxious to examine this gadget?

MyTrafficJacker 2.0 Review – What Is My TrafficJacker?

Doesn't just stop with Wikipedia and Youtube, My TrafficJacker (MTJ) will urge you to really take traffic and authority in like manner from bbc and quora. I should express these two new one aren't no increasingly expected to fight how astonishing they are. With four these destinations, you will increase partner commissions in 24 hours or less by picking alive anyway ended associations through, by then use them anyway you see fit.

MYTRAFFICJACKER 2.0 RATING

Easy TO USE PRICE FEATURES QUALITY SUPPORT BONUSES

Summary

Doesn't just stop with Wikipedia and Youtube, My TrafficJacker (MTJ) will urge you to really take traffic and authority in like manner from bbc and quora. I should express these two new one aren't no progressively expected to battle how inconceivable they are. With four these locales, you will win part commissions in 24 hours or less by picking alive anyway ended associations through, by then use them anyway you see fit.

Up to now, there is none

MyTrafficJacker 2.0 Review – Features And Benefits

The most remarkable bit of leeway you will get to guarantee MTJ is that it is 100% and all the time legal to hold onto regions from every one of the FOUR of these districts and arrangements in inside only a solitary day. Hence, you will have the choice to construct your intriguing traffic and your locales' rankings:

without making or rank any video

without making a site

without paying a DIME for traffic

MyTrafficJacker 2.0 Review – How Does My TrafficJacker Work?

My TrafficJacker is a customized programming so you basically need to encounter 4 phases of to catch endless zones:

Stage 1: Input your Target Keyword

Stage 2: Select whether you have to seize from Youtube, Wikipedia, BBC or Quora

Stage 3: Hit start and let My TrafficJacker complete your work

Stage 4: Register the spaces and occupy

It couldn't be any increasingly self-evident, it is as straightforward as one two three!

MyTrafficJacker 2.0 Review – My Experience in Using It?

I used this thing as an analyzer and today I'm going to give you my most this real review and essential direction to use this instrument straightforwardly underneath.

So here I'm at the dashboard of My TrafficJacker:

As you the, the dashboard fuses the left menu where you can use all the limits the mechanical assembly offers. At the central part, the contraption in like manner shows you an introduction video that you can watch through to get some answers concerning the item.

We ought to expect that you need a snappier technique to get familiar with the instrument. So go with me.

Understand watchwords or claims to fame that you have to seize

In case you have no idea about any slender catchphrase/claim to fame that might be unimaginable, go to the Keyword zone, enter the tremendous watchword and snap button. Take a model with my weight decrease watchword as underneath:

My TrafficJacker will instantly show you a once-over of sub watchwords like this:

Fundamentally snap to the chase picture I set apart with the red jolt as above to redirect to the investigation tab. For example, I picked weight decrease smoothies and the device will take me to this underneath screen:

Go authentically to the investigation section if you have your own catchphrase

This investigation tab is actually a comparative one that will be composed to if you go to the Research decision in the left menu I set apart to make you believe that its more straightforward as underneath. This decision is organized in case you recently chose and had an obvious thought regarding what catchphrases/claims to fame you need that you don't need to find the watchword in the Keyword section as above.

Along these lines, come back with the assessment tab. In this section, I will give you hardly any methods you need to go to adequately secure thousands qualified associations.

So with My TrafficJacker 2.0, 4 biggest locales are available for you to get any association which are Youtube, Wikipedia, BBC and Quora as I set apart with red jolts. The others are being revived and you will have the choice to catch them all at the most punctual chance, no worries.

Appropriate with one of 4 destinations

a/Let's go with my model with Quora.

Here is the screen I will be composed to with the Keyword was changed to custom keto diet free. You can find an amazing number of associations that are open for you to get as underneath:

275 target associations were related to My TrafficJacker that is more than awesome. You can check the availability of all the found associations in the overview, by then if those associations in spite of everything have region masters or page experts which you can take ideal conditions to backlink from these locales as well.

Back to the essential concern, I'm going to reveal to you now the most ideal approach to use ended associations by this gadget now:

So you can see there are 275 URL target interfaces as recorded, which one of them is Can you share a fundamental keto feast plan for a youngster including 2 spaces as I checked. The essential zone is open to get so Im going to check its nuances as underneath.

Snap to the URL and it guided me to the article:

the passed space I need to check will regardless exit in the article, I found it resulting to looking down:

As you see, that interface My TrafficJacker found for you is participated in the proper reaction that got 4.2k points of view and 42 upvotes. Notwithstanding the way that the association share perusers' thought with various associations underneath anyway it is currently gigantic for you if you have to get it. You can check its expense as underneath:

Or then again get more bits of knowledge concerning it from the previous screen by clicking to movement by then picked ocean search along these lines:

b/Im going to endeavor this instrument with another enormous site: Forbes

In the wake of having putting aside money as my watchword, clicking make button, My TrafficJacker gave me the result as follow:

As you see, the instrument helped me to find 34 broken associations that will be available gotten. Look underneath the once-over of the associations, for example the chief article, you can see there is no region open, in any case, the mechanical assembly skillfully offers you another limit check space openness which will remind you when the zone will be available. To do thusly, go to movement decision, pick whols like this:

It will show you the nuances of the space with the objective that you can understand when it will be ended. Besides, you can snap to the update picture as I set apart, by which My TrafficJacker will normally remind you when it will get passed for you to buy. At the point when it is available, you will be the essential individual to get it close by.

Another way that has same ability to help you the status to recall spaces you have to get is Domain Reminders. As I referenced, there are amounts of broken associations that have been starting at now disregarded by the owners yet not passed. So Domain Reminders will be an extraordinary one to ring you straightforwardly after the associations are available.

Basically I'll give you how MTJ capacities with BBC. I endeavored it with the contribute catchphrase, the item will take me to the result this way:

So as you see the couple of starting ones are not available at the present time, so basically snap to the open space catch to find which one you can rapidly get now, it will show you the URL as underneath:

To check whether the page authority of the association, simply copy the association given by then paste it to any free space authority checker, for instance, WSO, I did a model for you as follow:

Ensuing stage, copy the URL found from BBC and add it to the checker resource likewise like these two diagrams:

Ensuing to clicking to the check button, the checker resource will give all point by point information about the space authority (DA), page authority(PA) of the associations like this:

So here as found in the scree, the ensuing association is the BBC region with 95 DA and 44 PA, which is amazingly mind blowing that we can get strong backlinks from it. Very significant I should state. Also, we can see the essential interface has 13 DA and 14 DA and it is very worthy to get it. We in general know the huge proportion of traffic BBC asserts so with these associations you can have the choice to guide individuals to your associations, or just offer the associations with make advantage as well.

Furthermore, you moreover can hold onto traffic from youtube with MTJ. Look at the screen underneath, you can see it works with fundamental walks as I portrayed for you above.

Various limits

Well in addition, Subjacker is furthermore a critical redesign of MTJ 2.0 If you have associates or even you don't have the chance to find slipped by spaces using MTJ 2.0, subjacker is surely for you. It grants you

https://lephuocloc.com/mytrafficjacker-review/

https://lephuocloc.com/

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ljbarks · 7 years ago

Text

Julien Baker, My Father, Two Decades of Noise, and the Quiet

Soda guns make a funny noise. Like a dozen dentists doing work all at once, some suction and a strange gurgle.

Usually, it’s also a noise that happens nonchalantly, especially in a place like this, the gurgle drowned out by the din and dissonance of the band and the crowd and the night.

Right now though, a couple songs into Julien Baker’s set at White Eagle Hall, the soda gun — and the cracking of a fresh beer, the opening and closing of the standard-issue industrial doors at the back of the room, everything — have become some kind of strange and unwelcome accompaniment, dropping in at all the wrong moments, a laugh-track mistakenly placed over A Very Special Episode.

This, of course, is partially my fault. I’m perpetually late and the kind of short where I’ve had to turn my annoyance at the dozens of phones shooting video that’s never gonna be revisited into an argument for how useful all those glowing screens are as periscopes. Too anxious to push my way to the front under some false “I’m looking for my friends” pretense, because I know my friends are not up there because they’re all at home because it’s Tuesday and we’re in our mid-thirties. And then what happens when I get to up there? Then I’m awkwardly planted next to a person who’s not my friends, inserting myself into this stranger’s night like I just hatched from my pod and am enjoying my first moments in this human body, cumbersome and lumbering, exploring the thing the earthlings call music.

Instead, I don’t move from the spot on the floor that I’ve acquired simply by ordering a beer at the bar and then turning and taking only the amount of steps required to get out of the way of the next person. But the hypothetical awkwardness stays, permeating the room in some other way. As I, from my tippy-toes, and the other 799 people packed into White Eagle watch Baker take the stage, it’s to a strange kind of silence.

The first live music I ever saw that wasn’t my father playing the organ in our house — like the first thing that involved a band and instruments, and an in-hindsight surprising lack of any kind of adult supervision — was a punk show at the Rockaway American Legion.

It was 1997.

I was the kid who wore Nirvana shirts to school every single day. A girl in my first period biology class was passing out flyers.

“I think you like music, I don’t know.”

She tossed the thing on my desk. I was never cool to begin with, but in this moment she was infinitely cooler than me.

I convinced my best friend to come, and my father happily volunteered to drive us, depositing two fifteen year-olds in some random parking lot with only a vague idea about when to return to collect us.

This, that he was so willing to do this, volunteered to do it, was a confusing thing about my father. He was angry and strict, though only about the small and specific things. I never had a curfew, but food falling off your fork at dinner as you awkwardly tried to get this adult-sized utensil into your child-sized mouth would launch some kind of international incident. It always ended with slamming doors and crying and him storming out and me climbing up into the treehouse to write some other life in my head.

The flyer, because it was 1997, had a phone number to call “for directions or sex advice.” I blacked out that second part before I showed it to my parents, marching into our kitchen with this photocopied paper adorned with a giant hand-drawn, bug-eyed and bemowhawked creature with a safety pin through its tongue, the names of a bunch of bands they wouldn’t have known even if their entire record collection wasn’t The Kingston Trio, the soundtrack to The Big Chill and Donald Fagen.

I didn’t know the bands, either, really, but I knew I needed to go to this thing and see it. And so I also armed myself with an argument for why I should be allowed to go. Instead, I just got a “yes.” Simple. Too easy. My father, for all the other stuff, became his opposite self when it came to matters of music.

That November night in the American Legion, I found the thing I didn’t know I’d been looking for for all of the 15 years and four months of my life before it. My home, my people, my thing. My father came to pick us up at the end, and I surely got back in the car, tired and happy and smelling of cigarettes, but really, I never left.

Twenty-one years later that flyer hangs on the wall of my apartment.

Through the rest of my high school life, I’d check out the arts listings in the paper, picking out concerts and pulling out the phonebook so my parents could call Ticketmaster, using the money I’d made from working at the family business and then my job at the mall to finance these miniature adventures. And every time, my father would volunteer his services as driver, dutifully dropping us off somewhere in the middle of Manhattan so that we could enjoy a night with The Offspring.

Once I could drive, we’d spend weekends traversing the state following handwritten directions scribbled on a pick from the stack of flyers we’d been handed at the previous show. Living in all the wonder that comes with the kind of places willing to host an afternoon of complicated-looking kids too into something that was mostly dissonance and sometimes childhood music lessons repurposed into bad Bosstones knockoffs. Elks lodges, VFW halls, American Legions, firehouses, basements, the storefront of a diet food restaurant, high school gyms and random rooms in churches.

Then we’d take the train into the city and see the bigger touring bands that came through. Take a quarter for the payphone to call my mom from Penn and let her know the train didn’t derail on the way. Take the Midtown Direct from Dover for Pennywise, All and Strung Out in the city on Friday, drive to Asbury Park for Blink 182, Silverchair and Fenix TX on Sunday, go to school on Monday. Lars Frederiksen stealing my friend’s lighter outside a Dropkick Murphys show at the Wetlands. Smoking in the downstairs of Roseland as we browsed the tables of patches and buttons that lined the room. Summers with multiple Warped Tour dates, a car accident on the way to Asbury leaving the front passenger side door of my ’95 Golf in a permanent state of not closing right, our nostrils still filled with dust from Randall’s Island the day before.

Then, college, a degree I'd never get and mostly shitty jam bands in a small market city not on the way to anywhere. The other nights, more special. When Rainer Maria came to Higher Ground or AFI played at 242. River City Rebels with Catch 22 at a barn in rural Vermont or Bane in the middle of winter in some school gym. Kill Your Idols and Sworn Enemy and Agnostic Front and My Revenge and the show stopping to throw out some boneheads after they tried to rip a SHARP patch off a kid’s jacket. That night Death Cab played at UVM and someone from the band chased a kid who threw a disc golf disc onto the stage through the halls of whatever building that was. That same place where I saw Q and Not U and I think the only two times I was ever in that building. Our little NJ Scene expat crew, four people strong, watching some punk show on the second floor of the extra-strength hippie dorm.

Post-weird four year exile in Vermont, our little Jersey scene had shifted and died and grown up too much, but the city was still there. I’d learned by then never to take New York for granted. I went to shows.

So many.

Our Wilco/Ryan Adams cousins crew getting too drunk in Brooklyn bars and me as the only one over 21 buying bodega tallboys for everyone to drink from brown paper bags in Greeley Square. Getting lost in Macy’s and losing the car in midtown and getting actually lost on the way back from Camden. Perfect nights walking around Williamsburg and sunny Saturdays in Greenpoint and spending the night on Saint Marks after the War on Drugs got rained out. Happy hours at Matchless and tacos at that spot in Port Chester. The conversation before the Ty Segall show that started with me being excited for my friend and ended up with me on Uncle Einar’s first tour two months later. Too hyped after Run the Jewels and dropping my car key in a rest stop toilet because I hadn’t slept and went to see Rancid and Dropkick anyway. Too much whiskey and the side-effects of a tetanus shot and 13 staples in my leg and a Titus Andronicus show at Maxwell’s that I don’t remember. Getting a contact lens straight kicked out of my eye at that Vandals show at Irving Plaza. The lost weekend that was Punk Rock Bowling.

Plenty of solo trips, too, not wanting to miss what could be — because you never know — some band’s last time, and I’m not even going to bother trying to sell it to my friends. Sleater-Kinney five times in a week, the Piebald reunion, the sweatiest night ever when the AC broke at Webster Hall during the Bouncing Souls, and a fear of frostbite at Sonic Youth after putting a Chuck Taylor-clad foot into the depths of one of those curbside lakes the New York winter creates.

A thousand more that escape me now, but show me the ticket stub and I'll tell you the story.

The one constant is noise. There is always noise. The expected kind, of the band and the crowd cheering and singing along. And the annoying kind, of the full-on conversations everyone’s having as the band plays ten rows up, like the Bowery Ballroom is just an extension of their living room.

There is nothing better than a full-crowd singalong.

There is nothing worse than the people behind me at Sleater-Kinney’s first NYC show in nearly a decade having a full-on conversation — as the band was ripping through ‘Start Together’ or whatever — about an article one of them read about a Maraschino cherry factory that was illegally dumping whatever the byproducts of Maraschino cherry-making are into some Brooklyn waterway. It is a bonkers story that also involves a secret basement pot growing operation, but also, in the words of the great Sue Simmons, “the fuck are you doing?”

But both of those parts are also what make up the show. We’re in a room, simultaneously strangers and best friends. Together, doing a thing. That the gaps between songs are filled by this low mumble, that the band sometimes gets treated like nothing more than a backing track to an evening, because this is New York and we’re still too busy to even take this part out of our day to make it an actual part of our day.

There is some strange comfort in that noise, all of it, together.

This night, back at White Eagle, is different. It is silent. Starkly so. In an hour, I will be — we all will be — spit back out into New Jersey’s endless winter, down the steps and onto Newark Avenue, having learned no more about Maraschino cherries than we knew before we entered. I will hear nothing about who’s lunch Susan stole from the fridge at work today, or just how fucked up it was to get to Jersey from Ridgewood on a Tuesday night.

The only conversations I will hear are ones of faintly whispered commentary about how good this is. About “thank you for bringing me.” About “this is amazing.” And at first, it’s weird and jarring and uncomfortable, and every time another beer gets cracked at the bar the people all around me let out some barely audible groan, because for the first time at any show I’ve ever been to, we’re all sitting in that silence, and none of us know how to behave.

The show opens with ‘Over’ and ‘Appointments’ and no one even knows what to do when that’s over. Like, none of us know if we should even clap. Forever and ever, before and after this, the answer is obvious, but here, we’re all in some kind of silent agreement that there’s at least a question as to whether anything should pierce the quiet. Like we’d be as annoying as another person’s vodka soda order being fulfilled if we did.

Slowly, somewhere around the end of ‘Turn Out the Lights,’ we all agree to figure out if clapping is okay. Then light cheering. Eventually we’ve navigated it, all settled into a balance between the silence and the act of being at a show. Some of the people around me even risk a low singalong during parts of ‘Rejoice’ and that one part of ‘Everybody Does’, though the intermittent activity at the bar is still at least as loud.

And maybe, beyond the lack of talking, that’s why I’m so shaken and uncomfortable with this silence. Life is about noise, even in the background. A podcast, music, the TV I’m not watching. The fan that runs at night just so I can sleep. The silence outside my parents’ house makes me uneasy. I am home with sirens piercing the pre-dawn air. Stop the noise and the quiet can make things deafening in your head.

Shows are ringing ears and not knowing if you’re shouting at each other when you talk about how good it was on the way home. Why in some other social setting you’ll find me nodding in agreement even though I didn’t really hear what you just said. It is inherently about noise and sound taking over a room and taking everyone in that room with it.

Here, we’re trying to navigate that same journey with the quiet. Like turning up the volume on the car radio as you try to find your turn.

The thing I know about Julien Baker, because maybe I read The New Yorker while I’m brushing my teeth, is that she came up in some kind of punk scene that I imagine was similar to, though at least a decade and many states removed, from the one I did. Sonically, her music, just a guitar and some loops and piano and the occasional string accompaniment, is miles away from the basements and VFW halls and Elks lodges where I spent my teenage years. But it’s familiar somehow, too.

Maybe it’s because she’s here, on Tuesday night that’s too cold for April, mostly alone on stage, with just her songs and a couple guitars, a pedal board, a piano, and someone sometimes popping up to play violin, and she’s gotten this entire crowd to stop, to be quiet and sit in this silence and in these songs and find solace or something like it, in it, in them, in this. And that? That’s about as loud, and as punk rock, a thing as you can do.

#long reads #music #NYC #NJ #julien baker

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sherrygorugh · 4 years ago

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Equipment Review: KitchenAid Burr Grinder

Overall Rating: 7.5

Pros: In keeping with the classic KitchenAid ethos, this coffee grinder’s strong and handsome construction paired with its simple operation makes for a compelling combination.

Cons: Grind consistency, grounds retention, static and noise can all be problematic in various usage scenarios.

MSRP: $249.99

How to Interpret Equipment Ratings | Read complete report: Four Mid-Range Burr Coffee Grinders Tested & Reviewed

Reviewer’s Take:

Quality materials, solid construction and straightforward functionality make a brawny case for the KitchenAid Burr Grinder, which cuts a stout and authoritative profile on any coffee lover’s counter. Its wide grind adjustment knob moves in satisfying clicks and there’s a refreshing simplicity to its screenless, analog operation. Clad in diecast metal with a range of glossy finish options, its good looks are further accentuated by the clear glass of its sturdy hopper and more delicate, thinner-walled glass grounds jar.

Particle-Size Consistency. Organized around a vertically oriented set of flat burrs that provide a straight-through grind path from hopper to jar, KitchenAid’s grinder bears some physical resemblance to the iconic professional Mahlkönig EK43 grinder. The similarities end there, however, for unlike the latter’s near-mythic capacity to generate a consistent grind, the output of the KitchenAid Burr Grinder is rather dramatically uneven.

The KitchenAid also offers a paltry 15 total clicks of grind settings compared to the considerably higher number offered by most competing grinders in its class. True, users can shift the KitchenAid’s entire range of grind settings several clicks finer by removing the adjustment knob and turning an exposed interior adjustment wheel clockwise to bring the burrs into actual contact with each other (a.k.a. to find the zero point), then backing off one click and replacing the outer knob. The manufacturer recommends doing this in order to use the machine for espresso. However, we don’t find this grinder to be fit for espresso at either the factory settings or the finer settings, for while it does grind fine enough for espresso brewing at its very finest setting, backing off by even one click from there is already a leap too coarse. The grinder therefore does not offer anywhere near enough settings to achieve the kind of fine-tuning of particle size demanded by the espresso method.

We made the adjustment anyway because it’s easy to do, and because the coarsest end of the machine’s stock range was so wildly inconsistent as to be of no use. Then we sent samples of two different roasts ground at three different fine-ward-shifted settings to our friends at Horiba Instruments for laser diffraction particle size analysis, which confirmed that no matter what brewing method you’re grinding for, the boulders and fines collected by the KitchenAid’s beautiful glass jar will come close to outnumbering the grounds of optimal brewing size. For detailed test results see the bar graph at the end of this review.

Noise and Static Cling. The KitchenAid’s noise level ranges from just shy of 90 up to 95 decibels on average, which is on par with other grinders in its class, yet still loud enough to disrupt a conversation you might want to have with guests about the beauty of your grinder.

While the machine does not produce much static from coffees that are less static-prone to begin with , a fresh or darkly roasted coffee ground on the coarser side by the KitchenAid results in a flurry of staticky bits swirling up onto the thin walls of the catch jar. This is not an uncommon affliction with burr grinders, but things can get messy when the KitchenAid’s vibrations cause the jar to shift just far enough out of place to allow some charged-up particles to escape onto the counter and cling to the sides of the machine.

And after opening up our unit for cleaning, we removed a whopping 5.5 grams of coffee from the flat burr grind chamber and exit chute, making the KitchenAid the top grounds-retention hog of the four machines we review for this report.

The Bottom Line. If looks are all that matters, this machine is easily a winner. The tactile experience of using it is also a joy. Yet if your foremost concern is a reasonably precise and tidy grind, there are other options in this price range through which the beauty more effectively carries through to the coffee you’re brewing.

Key Specifications:

Hopper Capacity: 7 ounces Dimensions: H 10.0″, W 5.9″, D 9.8″ Weight: 10 pounds Burrs: 57mm flat steel Burr Speed: 450 RPM Grind Settings: 15 MSRP: $249.99

Manufacturer’s Website: www.kitchenaid.com

Grind consistency test results for the KitchenAid Burr Grinder based on laser particle size distribution analysis by Horiba Instruments. Six samples were tested from each grinder representing various grind settings (coarse, medium, fine) and two degrees of roast (light and medium-dark). For an explanation of how we determined our optimal range of particle sizes click here.

The post Equipment Review: KitchenAid Burr Grinder appeared first on Coffee Review.

Equipment Review: KitchenAid Burr Grinder published first on https://linlincoffeeequipment.tumblr.com/

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flauntpage · 6 years ago

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DGB Grab Bag: Stan Mikita, Erik Gryba's Laborious Weekend, and The Trade

Three Stars of Comedy

The third stars: Ryan Kesler and Ryan Johansen – Kesler took time out of his offseason schedule to reach out to his old friend in an attempt to arrange a street meeting, presumably for some sort of super-fun dance party.

And Johansen appeared to reply, even offering to chip in a few bucks to make it happen.

It's always nice to see a friendship in bloom. Here's hoping whatever sort of street festivities they have in mind are fun for everyone involved.

The second star: Eric Gryba – He recently had a baby, but don't worry, the recovery is going well.

The first star: Stan Mikita – The hockey world lost a legend this week when Mikita passed away at the age of 78. Tributes poured in from around the hockey world and beyond; even Chuck D weighed in.

And rightly so. Mikita was, quite literally, a game changer. He changed his own game, going from ranking near the top of the league in penalty minutes to winning back-to-back Lady Byngs. And he changed everyone else's game too, with his banana blade curve helping to revolutionize offensive hockey. He'll be missed, even as his memory lives on.

Anyway, here's Stan Mikita doing what he did best, which was being awesome:

Outrage of the Week

The issue: It's August and nothing is happening, so somebody wrote a ranked list of things. The outrage: You're mad about it. Is it justified: Sure. Fill your boots.

Getting really angry over somebody's ranked list is always kind of lame. We covered this last year, when we pointed out that people tend to get worked up over who isn't on the list without wanting to make the tough calls about who shouldn't be. If you read a list and you're super angry, settle down.

But getting a little angry is fine. It's kind of the whole point. And again, it's August and 90 percent of the league's newsmakers are drinking red wine on a dock somewhere, so anything that can cause your hockey brain to engage for a few moments is a good thing.

So when you see something like the NHL Network firing up their annual list of top players and they don't have Jonathan Toews as a top 20 center, go ahead and complain. Are they right? [Looks around and lowers voice so Blackhawks fans can't hear.] Yeah, probably. But maybe not! Having a friendly-ish debate over this stuff is a better use of our hockey fan time than live-tweeting line rushes from every random rookie tournament.

The same goes for the bigger stuff, like Corey Pronman's month-long ranking of NHL farm systems. He's counting down from worst to best, which means he'll get to your favorite team way too early. Doesn't he realize your team has, like, five sure-thing blue chippers, by which we mean guys who have already established themselves as decent AHLers even though they're only 27? What a moron!

He's not a moron, of course, and neither are the NHL Network guys or whoever else comes up with this sort of list. Ranked lists are hard work, and I say this as someone who may have done one or two over the years. But they're meant to be fun. Read them, disagree with them, debate them with friends and foes alike. Don't flip out over them, but other than that, enjoy.

(Unless they make a list and then don't actually rank it. That's the coward's way out.)

Obscure Former Player of the Week

Last week, we bemoaned the lack of decent nicknames for hockey lines. On Wednesday, the date was 8/8/18 and everyone celebrated by making references to number eight. All of that seems like a sign that this week's obscure player should be Brent Fedyk.

Fedyk went to Detroit with the eighth overall pick in 1985, a draft that was notorious for not being very good because the first overall pick punched all the other good players into orbit immediately after being chosen. Still, Fedyk was a decent enough pick, having put up strong numbers in the WHL. He'd spend two more seasons in junior and most of two more in the AHL before finally slipping into semi-regular NHL duty during the 1989-90 season. But his breakthrough came the following year, as he scored 16 goals for the Red Wings. That was followed by a disappointing five-goal season, and that was it for his time in Detroit; he was traded to the Flyers for a fourth-round pick on the eve of the 1992-93 season.

Normally, that sort of move would have been long forgotten. But Fedyk wasn't the only new Flyers forward that year; they'd also added a kid named Eric Lindros, and he needed some linemates. One would end up being the team's leading scorer, Mark Recchi. The other would be Fedyk, and the journeyman would turn the opportunity to play with a pair of Hall-of-Famers into back-to-back 20-goal seasons.

The line would stay together for much of those first two season, and became known as the "Crazy Eights" line because Fedyk wore 18, Recchi wore 8 and Lindros had his famous 88. As line nicknames go, it wasn't The French Connection or The Triple Crown Line, but it wasn't bad.

Unfortunately for Fedyk, an even better one was right around the corner. Early in the 1994-95 season, the Flyers traded Recchi to Montreal. The deal brought John LeClair to Philadelphia, and he was immediately put on a line with Lindros and rookie Mikael Renberg. The Crazy Eights had been good, but the newly formed Legion of Doom was even better, and it's the Lindros line everyone remembers to this day.

Fedyk lasted one more season in Philadelphia before being traded to Dallas for Trent Klatt. He'd spend half a season with the Stars, then two years in the IHL before getting a last shot at the NHL with the Rangers. He played 67 games and scored four goals during the 1998-99 season, his last in the league. All told, he played 470 NHL games, scoring 97 times.

I'm still kind of mad that he didn't get to be in this commercial.

Debating the Issues

This week’s debate: The Carolina Hurricanes are holding a fan vote to pick this year's goal song, and one of the candidates is a version of "Brass Bonanza", the old Hartford Whalers theme. Should Hurricanes fans vote for "Brass Bonanza"?

In favor: Yes.

Opposed: Yes.

In favor: Cool, good debate.

Opposed: Yep. See you next week.

The final verdict: Wait, guys?

In favor: Yes?

The final verdict: Any chance you could stretch this out a bit? It's August, and nothing interesting has happened in the NHL in, like, three weeks. You'd be helping us out if you could at least pretend this was a tough call.

Opposed: But it's not.

In favor: Yeah. "Brass Bonanza" is the greatest hockey instrumental of all time, so of course the Carolina Hurricanes should play it after every goal. If we're being honest, every team in the league should.

The final verdict: Humor us.

In favor: Fine. But I'm the "in favor" guy, so I still get to say yes. You can go ahead and come up with a reason to be against it.

Opposed: Man.

In favor: Yeah, good luck.

Opposed: OK, how about this. I mean, it's the Carolina Hurricanes. They're technically the same franchise, but they're not the Hartford Whalers. Maybe some traditions should be allowed to die with their old teams. Wouldn't this be kind of like when the Coyotes tried to steal the Winnipeg Whiteout?

In favor: That's a terrible argument.

Opposed: Dude, I'm trying my best here.

In favor: OK. But it's still a terrible argument. For one, the Hurricanes already brought it back last season, so that bridge has been crossed. But more importantly, let's face it, Hartford isn't Winnipeg. That market is not coming back someday, so there's no reason to preserve their traditions beyond sentimentality. Sentimentality is indeed a good reason to do things sometimes. But not now, because "Brass Bonanza" is the best and there's a whole generation of hockey fans who don't have it stuck in their heads like we all did growing up.

Opposed: Alright. How about this: The Hurricanes aren't actually proposing that they use Brass Bonanza—they're offering up something called "Brass Bonanza (Techno Remix)." Techno sucks.

In favor: Counterpoint: Sometimes techno is freaking great.

Opposed: Damn, well played.

In favor: Thank you.

Opposed: OK, but can we at least acknowledge that there are people out there who don't like "Brass Bonanza"?

In favor: Name them.

Opposed: Uh… Brian Burke.

In favor: And…

Opposed: .. and that it's. That's the whole list.

In favor: I think we'd done here.

Opposed: Want to go listen to "Brass Bonanza" for ten straight hours?

In favor: You know it.

The final verdict: Hurricanes fans, you know what you have to do.

Classic YouTube Clip Breakdown

Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of The Trade, the blockbuster deal that sent Wayne Gretzky to the Kings and changed the face of hockey forever. Today, let's look back at the reaction to that deal among the people that always matter most – shiny rich celebrities.

I'm not actually sure where or when this clip is from, but it starts off with an old school "We interrupt this program" alert. For you youngsters out there, this is how we used to get our breaking news back in the day, before we could just log onto social media and wonder why everyone was angry about and try to figure out what had happened based on who was yelling about what. Back then, a scary guy would just shut off whatever show you were watching and make you think you were about to die for a few seconds. Honestly, it was a better system.

In this case, nobody is dying unless you count Peter Pocklington's reputation. Instead, we get footage of Wayne Gretzky trying on his new Kings' jersey. This is of course the second press conference from that day, following the infamous "I promised Mess I wouldn't do this" tear-jerker.

Random question: What do you think happened to that striped shirt Gretzky was wearing at those press conferences? It was an interesting choice. Very slimming. I think I kind of want to buy it.

The press conference leads into a quick montage of Gretzky arriving in Los Angeles, highlighted by an appearance by a teenaged Gord Miller. We're told that the trade is a big deal in L.A., and you can tell it's true because that one photographer has sprung for like six balloons. Gretzky was never more than a three-balloon guy in Edmonton, I tell you.

I'll admit I got way too excited at 1:15 when the beat drops and they show Bruce McNall nodding in the back of a limo and for about two seconds I thought he was about to drop the most fire rap track of 1988. There's probably a "99 Problems" joke here but I'm not finding it.

We get a montage of Gretzky being introduced to an adoring L.A. crowd, as we get to play a fun game of "spot the late-80s celebrity." There's John Candy, Magic Johnson, Goldie Hawn and (I think) a young Kate Hudson. We also get Luc Robitaille explaining how nobody cared about the Kings until Gretzky showed up. He seems thrilled about that, by the way.

"Wayne Gretzky… a definite plus." Typical dumb Kings fans, evaluating players using plus-minus instead of more advanced stats.

We hear McNall tell us about how the Kings went from having 5,000 fans a night to being sold out every game. That's not actually true, although attendance did jump by about 3,000 fans per game. Look, cut McNall a break, he didn't turn out to be all that great with accurate numbers.

More celebrity sightings, including Tom Hanks, Sylvester Stallone, Kevin Costner, and even Ronald Reagan. We also get a shot of Michael J. Fox, even though he's supposed to be a diehard Bruins fan, so apparently there were some sellouts in L.A. (But I'm going to easy on him, because he's going to provide us with some fun next week.)

We hear from Marty McSorley before cutting back to Robitaille, who talks about being a star-struck Canadian. A few years later, he was dropping f-bombs in Van Damme movies. Fame will do that to a kid.

The highlight of the video comes around 3:05, as a lady points out that "the only hockey player anybody in Los Angeles has ever heard of is this Wayne guy" while dropping the kind of eye-roll my pre-teen daughter would be proud of. We don't find out who she is, but I'm going to ahead and assume she's the embittered president of the Tim Tookey fan club.

At this point our clip suddenly changes direction, with darker tones and somber music. You're half expecting to hear the narrator say "And that's when it all went wrong," followed by the story of Gretzky accidentally killing a cameraman during one of those "Take a slap shot directly at the camera" clips they made him do for absolutely everything back then.

Nope, it's just more bragging about how many tickets they sold. Man, they make it sound like nobody in Los Angeles could take their eyes of Wayne Gretzky. Of course, as we'd later find out, that wasn't quite true.

And with that, our clip is done. We don't even get to the awkward SNL hosting stint, or the Saturday morning cartoon, or the time McNall and Candy convinced him to buy the NFL's top draft pick. Man, the Gretzky-in-L.A. era was a weird but fascinating time. Too bad Roman Vopat had to come along and ruin it.

Needless to say, we'll never see another trade like this one, mainly because this is the modern-day NHL and we'll never see another trade, period. Still, hockey fans can always hold out hope. Keep an eye on those breaking news bulletins, just in case.

Have a question, suggestion, old YouTube clip, or anything else you'd like to see included in this column? Email Sean at [email protected].

DGB Grab Bag: Stan Mikita, Erik Gryba's Laborious Weekend, and The Trade published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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irescot · 7 years ago

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Ireland Tour - Day 2 (9/5)

Today we were going to visit Bantry House and Garinish (pronounced Garnish) island.

Sharon and I were up a little earlier than breakfast was ready so we went for a walk. We saw through the window of our room that the sheep were sleeping. Took lots of pictures of views of the lake and environs. We walked to the modern church and saw the abbey ruins (17th C), then the cemetery. Took a close look at one of the boats on the dock and realized we woulde not go on a ride on one of them that was half-full of water and had a bailing bucket in it. Tucked away in the front hedge of the hotel was a little statue that looked like Nessie. In the distance we saw Carol, but she chose to keep walking on the main walk, rather than the side trips we took.

On our way to Bantry House, we made an unexpected (by us, Jason had planned it) stop at the ruins of Carriganass Castle on the Beare (pr. bear), which was really tiny, but interesting.

Bantry House and Gardens is a private estate, still owned by the descendants of the Earl of Bantry. In fact at least one of the children was giving tours, and we had an unresolved debate whether a second one was at the door welcoming everyone and answering questions.

Tons of pictures of different parts of the estate and its gardens. Took a limited part of the self-guided tour of the house and took some pictures there, only to find out when we were leaving that there was a sign at the entrance that said "no pictures inside, please." Oops, but didn't see it until much later.

At the entry, there are three tile mosaics on each side. Because the mosaics cannot bear a lot of traffic, they had rugs made that look just like the mosaics. They lay those on top and the rugs absorb the traffic. From time to time one of the two official people lift the carpets to show people the original mosaics. Happened to be there when it happened (took a picture and no one said anything, now that I think of it).

Other interesting pieces inside the house were a chess set, a piano made of birdseye maple, an ornate vase, a small table inlaid with JNRJ (an inscription we usually see as INRI), an ermine topped robe, and four brass instruments of the same family in different sizes.

Outside, there were many flowers and trees, a statue of Diana the huntress, a cannon, pleasure boats and fishing boats on Bantry Bay, a cemetery in the distance, a maze-like planting of hedges, and in the center a fountain with a strange rock(?) in the middle with objects on it. It's surrounded by twisted wisteria. Saw an ornate Corinthian capitol on the outside in an otherwise pedestrian eating area.

Then it was time to go to Garinish Island. The only way to get there is via a passenger ferry that takes off from Glengarriff. From the website:

Garinish Island is located in the harbour of Glengarriff in Bantry Bay. It is world renowned for its gardens which are laid out in beautiful walks and that have some stunning specimen plants which are rare in this climate.

The gardens are the result of the creative partnership of Annan Bryce and Harold Peto, architect and garden designer. The island was bequeathed to the Irish people in 1953.

The island boasts a Martello tower on its southern shores that has been restored. There is an amazing view of the bay from the battlements of the tower.

The ferry was there when we got there and we paid a fee of $15 euros for the round trip crossing. The ferry only has seating on the inside, but plenty of it. We were told that we would be able to see seals as we crossed, that it was practically guaranteed, but that in some rare instances, it was also possible to see a dolphin or two. We didn't see any dolphins, but we did see seals, including a pup. On top were perched two cormorants.

We saw a big hotel on the shore and then it was pointed to us that Maureen O'Hara was from this area and her house (with two white chimneys) was pointed out to us, although we were also told that she died in La Jolla. She actually died in Boise, Idaho at age 95 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery where her third (and last) husband was buried. He was a brigadier general in the US Air Force. There is an annual golf tournament held in her honor in Glengarriff.

Lots of lovely flowers on the island, no problem. We also managed to walk up to the Martello tower, although I came to regret it given the hundred steps to get there. Martellos were small defensive forts that were built by the British during the 19th century; most were coastal forts. When we got there, I discovered that not only were there more steps, but these led only to the first story, and that I had to go up a narrow, winding staircase to get to the upper part - do the words "no way" convey my position clearly enough? But at least Carol took our picture at the foot of the tower.

On our way down we saw a tree with cancerous-looking growths and a pretty pine tree. Then the ferry was there, and after a bunch of Dutch-speaking tourists got off, we got on and went back to Glengarriff.

We drove on a very, very curvy road, where many of us got rather queasy, called Healy Pass in the Beare peninsula. Jason told us that he had been warned that there was a farmer called John who was in the habit of stopping tour buses (with his tractor, I believe) and demand to come aboard. It was also said that he was also a bit amorous and like to flirt with the women. He told us that because at one point it did look like a tractor was going to come onto the road, but then it didn't. He said he was told by the office to never open the door to the van under any circumstances to this guy. We all laughed and assumed it was one of those Irish tall tales.

Jason then told us that he was reaching his legal limit for driving consecutively and that there was a machine installed in all commercial vehicles that allowed the government to monitor the hours (we also heard it elsewhere), so it couldn't be circumvented. Normally, he would just stop for the next day of the tour and let a driver with local knowledge of Dingle drive the van, but he had just found out that the man was unavailable, and that unfortunately, he would have to turn the van over to another Driftwood driver for the duration of the tour. We were very upset because we had all bonded with Jason and loved his sense of humor and just plain niceness. So today was going to be our last full day with him. The changeover was going to take place at Killarney National Park.

On our way to wherever we were going to stay overnight, Jason asked us if we wanted to see a stone circle. I thought he meant stone circle and so decided to stay on the coach. It turned out to be a stone circle like Stonehenge, only way smaller. So I snoozed. But there were some pretty views out there anyway, including a brook and a bridge. A farmer owns the land where this stone circle is and he decided to make a little bit of extra money by letting people come view it. He has a donation box and over it a CCTV camera.

We then continued on to Kenmare where we were to spend the night. It was a nice hotel except for beds that had a low point in the middle. We went out to dinner and then retired for the night.

And that was the end of the Ireland Tour Day 2 (9/5).

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flauntpage · 6 years ago

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DGB Grab Bag: Stan Mikita, Erik Gryba's Laborious Weekend, and The Trade

Three Stars of Comedy

And Johansen appeared to reply, even offering to chip in a few bucks to make it happen.

It's always nice to see a friendship in bloom. Here's hoping whatever sort of street festivities they have in mind are fun for everyone involved.

The second star: Eric Gryba – He recently had a baby, but don't worry, the recovery is going well.

The first star: Stan Mikita – The hockey world lost a legend this week when Mikita passed away at the age of 78. Tributes poured in from around the hockey world and beyond; even Chuck D weighed in.

Anyway, here's Stan Mikita doing what he did best, which was being awesome:

Outrage of the Week

The issue: It's August and nothing is happening, so somebody wrote a ranked list of things. The outrage: You're mad about it. Is it justified: Sure. Fill your boots.

(Unless they make a list and then don't actually rank it. That's the coward's way out.)

Obscure Former Player of the Week

I'm still kind of mad that he didn't get to be in this commercial.

Debating the Issues

In favor: Yes.

Opposed: Yes.

In favor: Cool, good debate.

Opposed: Yep. See you next week.

The final verdict: Wait, guys?

In favor: Yes?

Opposed: But it's not.

The final verdict: Humor us.

In favor: Fine. But I'm the "in favor" guy, so I still get to say yes. You can go ahead and come up with a reason to be against it.

Opposed: Man.

In favor: Yeah, good luck.

In favor: That's a terrible argument.

Opposed: Dude, I'm trying my best here.

Opposed: Alright. How about this: The Hurricanes aren't actually proposing that they use Brass Bonanza—they're offering up something called "Brass Bonanza (Techno Remix)." Techno sucks.

In favor: Counterpoint: Sometimes techno is freaking great.

Opposed: Damn, well played.

In favor: Thank you.

Opposed: OK, but can we at least acknowledge that there are people out there who don't like "Brass Bonanza"?

In favor: Name them.

Opposed: Uh… Brian Burke.

In favor: And…

Opposed: .. and that it's. That's the whole list.

In favor: I think we'd done here.

Opposed: Want to go listen to "Brass Bonanza" for ten straight hours?

In favor: You know it.

The final verdict: Hurricanes fans, you know what you have to do.

Classic YouTube Clip Breakdown

Random question: What do you think happened to that striped shirt Gretzky was wearing at those press conferences? It was an interesting choice. Very slimming. I think I kind of want to buy it.

"Wayne Gretzky… a definite plus." Typical dumb Kings fans, evaluating players using plus-minus instead of more advanced stats.

Have a question, suggestion, old YouTube clip, or anything else you'd like to see included in this column? Email Sean at [email protected].

DGB Grab Bag: Stan Mikita, Erik Gryba's Laborious Weekend, and The Trade published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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